Can a pacific hurricane be one in the gulf?

Question

Can a Pacific Ocean hurricane cross Mexico and still be a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico??

Ok, so even if it was a cat. 4 or 5 hurricane in the Pacific could it still make it's way to the Gulf... and if it does..do they change the name to an Atlantic storm name???

Answer 1

Almost zero chance, but something sort of like that has happened. Recognize that a tropical cyclone starts falling apart once it moves over land...a storm would never maintain hurricane or tropical storm strength while crossing Mexico.

In 1989, Hurricane Cosme [1] made landfall around Acapulco, fell apart (no circulation existed) and its remnants drifted northeast across Mexico and eventually into the northwest Gulf of Mexico. A circulation formed out of these remnants, and it intensified into 50mph Tropical Storm Allison [2] and made landfall in southeastern Texas near Freeport.

The weather systems in the tropics almost always move from east to west because of the influence of the trade winds. In this situation, trade winds were almost non-existent and the flow actually switched around to west to east.

Answer 2

Not really; the water in the Pacific Ocean is too cold for something like that. Most likely, it would repel a tropical storm rather than absorb it before it turns into a hurricane.

Answer 3

Yes, that can happen. However, the hurricane could weaken to tropical storm status or even tropical depression status. If it would reach depression status after crossing over Mexico, and then re-strengthen to hurricane status, it would be given a different name.