Hurricane Genevieve became the first Category 5 hurricane in the Eastern Pacific early Monday since 2024's Hurricane Kristy. The storm has begun to weaken and still remains a powerful Category 4 hurricane.

Doubling wind speed

Genevieve became a hurricane Saturday night, kicking off a rapid intensification that saw the storm's peak wind speed go from 80 mph on Saturday at 8 p.m. MST to 160 mph by Monday morning at 2 a.m. MST.

Any impacts?

The storm is not expected to have any direct impacts to land, but large swells, potentially life-threatening surf and dangerous rip currents are impacting the southwestern coast of Mexico and southern portions of the Baja California Peninsula this morning, and they are spread northward through the day.

Latest forecast

Genevieve is moving into cooler waters today, but otherwise favorable conditions may allow the storm to remain at a similar intensity as it is now or fluctuate slightly for the next day or so as it moves northwestward.

The storm is expected to remain a major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) through much of Tuesday and at least tropical storm intensity through the week.

Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.