Summary
The Port of Pichilingue is a marginal haven. It is considered to be a protected harbor for the purpose of avoiding or reducing the effects of a passing tropical cyclone with winds not in excess of 80 kt. However, the Port Authority requires all visiting Navy or Coast Guard ships to leave port prior to the onset of strong winds and evade at sea.
The Port of La Paz is not a safe haven, particularly within the Inner Harbor. Both ports are in protected and enclosed bays and are not impacted by open ocean waves. However, a storm surge as high as 6.6 ft (2 m) was experienced in the Port of La Paz while a storm surge of 3.3 ft (1 m) occurred in Pichilingue Bay with Hurricane Liza in 1976.
Historically, only four hurricanes that have approached La Paz/Pichilingue within 180 nmi have been over 80 kt at their storm center at CPA. Many of the storms that affect Cabo San Lucas with damaging tropical cyclone winds later affect La Paz/Pichilingue, but their intensity is normally diminished after crossing over Baja California. One exception to this would be when storms approach La Paz/Pichilingue from the south-southeast and do not, at least initially, pass over a land mass. However, this is not a common occurrence as shown by the storm track maps for this site. It should also be noted that 39 out of 82 tropical cyclones did not exist 72 hours before reaching their closest point of approach to La Paz/Pichilingue. These statistics should play a part in the decision making process on evasion.
In the event that a vessel cannot transit farther up into to the Gulf of California with an approaching hurricane, it is recommended that the ship proceed to an area west of Isla Del Espiritu Santo at about 24°20.8'N 110°20.7'W and resist the effects of the hurricane underway in the lee of the island. If a ship is unable to get underway, the preferred berth during strong winds is the Commercial Pier in the Port of Pichilingue. Use of two anchors is recommended for this situation.
A notable weather phenomenon that occurs occasionally during the summer hurricane season is a "torito". This type of squall can last more than 30 minutes and is accompanied by thunder and lightning and winds up to 40 kt.
Current weather conditions and satellite imagery can be found at http://www.weather.com/, by typing in "La Paz, Mexico" for the location.
Current meteorological conditions every 30 minutes with additional webcam photos in the vicinity of the Bay of La Paz can be obtained through the following San Diego State University CIBNOR/Comitan website: http://www.cibnor.mx/meteo/icibmet.html. Wind speed (m/s) and direction is included in the tabular portion. Spanish updates on tropical cyclone information are provided every 30 minutes over Channel 14 and the Civil Protection frequency of 8284.4 MHz.
Source: http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/port_studies/thh-nc/mexico/lapazpic/text/summary.htm
