A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Barbara Bringing Flooding Risk to Mexico

May 29, 2013; 8:21 AM

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Color-enhanced satellite image (NOAA), showing Tropical Cyclone Barbara in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, off southern Mexico, on May 29, 2013.

Barbara will pose a threat of flooding rain and damaging winds as it pushes inland over the southern Pacific coast of Mexico on Wednesday.

The hurricane was making landfall near Salina Cruz, Mexico during the midday.

Damaging winds can fell trees and down power lines as the storm makes its way onshore Wednesday.

As Barbara interacts with the mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas states, it will trigger local rainfall of 8 to perhaps 12 inches within 24 to 48 hours. Flash flooding and landslides will be possible. Higher mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas, which rise 8,000 to 12,000 above sea level, can act to wring out extreme rainfall with landfalling tropical cyclones.

Barbara formed as a tropical depression at about 7:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 28, and within a few hours was upgraded to a tropical storm.

Although Barbara will weaken and dissipate inland, forecast tools accessed by AccuWeather.com indicate that the weather throughout southern Mexico and nearby Central America will remain unsettled with further outbreaks of heavy rain through at least the start of next week.

Weather News >

Hurricane Barbara Crosses Mexico

By: Associated Press Email

Updated: Wed 10:00 PM, May 29, 2013

Associated Press Release

OAXACA, Mexico (AP) --

Barbara rose to hurricane strength

Wednesday as it steamed toward a

sparsely populated stretch of

Mexico's southern Pacific coast,

where it was expected to quickly

make landfall.

Barbara's wind speeds hit 75

mph (120 kph), as its center

swirled just about 20 miles

(32 kilometers) off the coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was

moving north-northeast toward land at about 10 mph (17 kph), toward a sparsely

populated stretch of coast.

Officials in the southern state of Oaxaca rushed to prepare emergency shelters and

suspended classes for school children in coastal communities as rain began to lash the coast.

The stretch of coast west of the railway town of Arriaga where Barbara would make

landfall is a largely undeveloped stretch of coastal lagoons, punctuated by

small fishing villages. The major oil port of Coatzacoalcos is located on the other

side of the narrow waist of Mexico known as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. But the

center said the storm should weaken rapidly once it hits land, well before reaching

Coatzacoalcos.

Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the Pacific coast from Puerto Angel to

Barra de Tonala.

Oaxaca state Civil Defense Director Manuel Maza Sanchez said ports had been

closed to navigation in tourist resorts of Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido and

Huatulco, all located more than 120 miles (200 kilometers) to the west.

Rain had begun to fall along the coast Wednesday, flooding some homes,

he said.

Maza Sanchez said classes would be cancelled at schools along the coast

for the rest of the week, and that storm shelters were being set up in 20 towns and hamlets.

Such shelters are frequently installed at local schools.

Barbara is expected to quickly lose strength once it hits land.

Mexico's National Meteorological Service said that, while the remnants may

enter the Gulf of Mexico on the other side of the isthmus, "it will be so

weakened that it is unlikely to regain strength."

Barbara becomes hurricane near Mexico's top oil refinery Source: Reuters - Wed, 29 May 2013 06:33 PM

Barbara becomes hurricane near Mexico's top oil refinery

Source: Reuters - Wed, 29 May 2013 06:33 PM

Author: Reuters

MEXICO CITY, May 29 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Barbara became a hurricane in the Pacific on Wednesday as it neared Mexico's southern coast and forged a course towards the country's biggest oil refinery.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the hurricane was 65 miles (105 km) east-southeast of the port of Salina Cruz in southern Oaxaca state. Winds were blowing at a maximum 75 miles per hour (120 kph).

The storm was moving at around 10 mph, and the eye of the hurricane would make landfall within a couple of hours and then weaken rapidly, the center said.

Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex said earlier on Wednesday its biggest refinery with the capacity to process 330,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, which is on the coast in Salina Cruz, was operating normally.

Ports for small vessels in the area have been closed, and emergency services in Oaxaca said they were starting to evacuate residents from some areas as a precaution, including the immediate vicinity of the refinery.

Barbara churned northeast at about 13 mph, and was expected to swing through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico's narrowest point, once it makes landfall later on Wednesday.

The NHC issued a hurricane warning from Oaxaca's Puerto Angel to Barra de Tonala, and a tropical storm warning from Barra de Tonala to Boca de Pijijiapan in Chiapas state.

Barbara was forecast to reach hurricane strength before it hits Mexico's southern coast, the center added.

Between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain is expected over eastern Oaxaca through western Chiapas once Barbara reaches land, along with a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) above normal tide levels.

Tropical storm Barbara bears down on Mexico’s Oaxaca coastline The storm is forecast to strengthen before reaching Mexico’s coast on Thursday, as per the US hurricane center Bloomberg First Published: Wed, May 29 2013. 09 56 AM IST

Tropical storm Barbara bears down on Mexico’s Oaxaca coastline

The storm is forecast to strengthen before reaching Mexico’s coast on Thursday, as per the US hurricane center

Bloomberg

First Published: Wed, May 29 2013. 09 56 AM IST

Barbara, with top winds of 64km per hour, was stationary about 145 miles south-southwest of Salina Cruz, Mexico, the hurricane centre said in an advisory before 8pm in New York. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

ALSO READ

Updated: Wed, May 29 2013. 09 58 AM IST

Boston: Tropical Storm Barbara formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean and was bearing down on the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where Petroleos Mexicanos operates the country’s largest oil refinery.

A tropical storm warning is in place on Mexico’s Pacific coast from Lagunas de Chacuhua to Boca de Pijijiapan, according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. Barbara, with top winds of 64km per hour, was stationary about 145 miles south-southwest of Salina Cruz, Mexico, the hurricane centre said in an advisory before 8pm in New York.

The system was forecast to turn north-northeastward to reach Mexico’s coast within the warning area by early Thursday, making outside preparations difficult or dangerous, the centre’s advisory shows.

Mexico City-based Pemex, Latin America’s largest oil producer, operates a refinery in Salina Cruz that suffered flooding in 2011 when two tropical storms hit the area. As much as three to six inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain may fall across the region with some areas receiving as much as 10 inches, according to the hurricane center.

The system is forecast to strengthen before reaching the coast on Thursday, according to the hurricane center’s advisory.

While the storm became better organized during the day, it doesn’t have that much time to grow much more powerful because it is so close to land, said Tom Kines, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.

The mountains that will tear at the structure of the storm also pose a danger to residents in the area because of the threat from mudslides, Kines said.

First Published: Wed, May 29 2013. 09 56 AM IST

Hurricane Barbara set to pound Mexico's Pacific coast

A satellite image shows the southern Pacific coastal area of Mexico as Hurricane Barbara neared the coastline Wednesday. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / May 29, 2013)

By Richard Fausset
May 29, 2013, 1:13 p.m.

MEXICO CITY — Gaining power as it roared toward Mexico’s Pacific coast, Tropical Storm Barbara was officially reclassified as Hurricane Barbara on Wednesday as it threatened to bring high winds, flash floods and landslides to the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

As of 11 a.m. Pacific time, the center of the Category I hurricane was about 20 miles south of the coastline in the southern state of Chiapas, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, the hurricane center reported.

Barbara was moving north-northeast at 10 mph and was expected to forge a path across the narrow southern waist of Mexico late Wednesday and Thursday, when it will probably reach Mexico’s Gulf coast.

Ports along the Pacific coast were reportedly shut down. In the resort city of Acapulco, the Agence France-Presse news service reported heavy rainfall and flooding Wednesday that swept away at least three cars.

The city of Coatzacoalcos, a Gulf Coast port and oil and gas production center crucial to Mexico’s petroleum industry, is in the projected path of the storm, though Barbara is expected to weaken significantly as it moves overland.

A storm surge of 3 to 5 feet was expected on the Pacific coast, as well as 4 to 8 inches of rain over eastern Oaxaca and western Chiapas. A hurricane warning is in effect in the Oaxacan beach resort of Puerto Angel, extending eastward along a section of the Chiapas coast.

Mexico’s national meteorological society warned residents in the southern states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas, Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche to be prepared for intense rain, strong winds, floods, landslides and rising rivers.