Tropical Pacific moisture drenches central US as another Pacific hurricane forms

Tropical weather that surged onshore from the Pacific soaked more of the U.S. on Wednesday while forecasters announced yet another hurricane off the coast of Mexico.

The new hurricane, Rachel, is expected to develop rapidly and could become a major one with sustained winds topping 111 mph (178 kph). The storm was hundreds of miles offshore, however, and posed no threat to land.

Parts of New Mexico, meanwhile, looked less and less like the months of drought that dried up reservoirs and caused hungry bears to roam into neighborhoods in search of food.

“There’s a lot of standing water in the fields and near some homes,” National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Lundeen said of one area where water overtopped a small dam.

The Rio Grande that ran dry through a long stretch of the state was overflowing.

The damp and stormy pattern is consistent with an El Niño year of above average Pacific storm activity.

From Colorado and across the Great Plains to Iowa, as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain fell Tuesday and into Wednesday, with some areas seeing even more.

More storms were expected in Texas and Oklahoma after one in Amarillo, Texas, flooded streets and spawned a tornado Tuesday night. Storm totals in the Amarillo area topped 3.5 inches (9 centimeters).

The weather was the remnants of tropical systems including Hurricane Polo , a Category 3 hurricane that made landfall overnight Monday on the Baja California peninsula and then farther inshore.

The bodies of three people -- two children ages 3 and 15, and their mother -- were found Sunday after the family went missing due to a river flooding in the city of Talpa de Allende in Mexico's Jalisco state, before Polo made landfall. The father is still missing, according to the Jalisco State Civil Protection agency. A tourist also is missing due to strong waves in Puerto Vallarta, but the agency says that case is not linked to Polo either.

Mexican authorities remain on alert in the states of Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco due to Hurricane Rachel.

In the state of Jalisco, schools were closed Wednesday in 30 municipalities as a precautionary measure.

Rachel was located about 380 miles (615 kilometers) west of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, or about 220 miles (350 kilometers) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico. Its maximum sustained winds were around 85 mph (140 kph), according to an advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

The cyclone was moving northwest at 9 mph (15 kph) and was forecast to turn toward the west-northwest and west later this week, moving away from mainland Mexico and passing south of the Baja California peninsula.

The hurricane center said the Mexican government had discontinued all coastal watches and warnings. But it warned of possible isolated rainfall totals of up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) and heavy surf along the coasts of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco states.

Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 25 miles (35 kilometers) from Rachel's center, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 160 miles (260 kilometers).

In the central Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Nolo threatened dangerous conditions for parts of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area. Formerly a hurricane, the storm drenched parts of Hawaii’s Big Island over the weekend. Its maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph (85 kph).

Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City and Julie Walker in New York City contributed reporting.