WASHINGTON (AP) — Having doubled in strength in less than a day and still expected to grow further, Hurricane Erick on Wednesday chugged through the ideal environment to power up quickly as it approached Mexico's southern Pacific Coast.
This type of rapid intensification has become more common in a warmer climate, especially in the Atlantic and near the United States, which is not where Erick is now, scientists said. Last year, there were 34 incidents of rapid intensification — when a storm gains at least 35 mph in 24 hours — which is about twice as many as average and causes problems with forecasting, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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Workers board up a storefront as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Erick, in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Tourists stroll along the beach shore before the arrival of Hurricane Erick, in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Boats are removed from the water to Manzanillo beach ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Erick in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Boats are anchored near Manzanillo beach to be removed from the water ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Erick in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
People walk on Zicatela beach prior to the arrival of Hurricane Erick in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca state, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Erick approaching Mexico's Pacific coast, Wednesday morning, June 18, 2025. (NOAA via AP)
A fisherman throws a net in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca state, Mexico, before the arrival of Hurricane Erick, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
Erick, an otherwise run-of-the-mill hurricane that’s strong but not unusual, gained 50 mph in just 18 hours and was still powering up as it neared the coast.
The only thing that’s unusual so far is that this is the fifth eastern Pacific storm a month into the season there, which is a little more active than normal, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. And it’s likely that when Erick hits, it will be the strongest storm to make landfall in that part of Mexico this early in the season, he said.
On average, the fifth named storm first appears in the Eastern Pacific basin around July 23, according to the hurricane center. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season, which starts May 15 and runs through Nov. 30, averages 15 named storms, eight of which become hurricanes with four of those reaching major status of winds more than 110 mph (177 kph). In general, the eastern Pacific tends to have about one storm a year more than the Atlantic. But Atlantic storms tend to cause more destruction because they hit more populated areas.
Because of where Erik is headed — nearing Acapulco — and its rapid intensification, the storm brings back bad memories of deadly Otis, which seemed to come from out of nowhere to smack Mexico with a top-of-the-scale Category 5 hurricane in 2023. But Erick is no Otis, especially because of their timing. Erick is an early-season storm and Otis hit in October.
Forming in October, Otis grew stronger by churning up deeper and warmer water because it was later in the year. Erick is early in the year and the deep water it would churn up is cooler and doesn't fuel rapid intensification. Even so, the surface water is plenty hot enough, said MIT hurricane scientist Kerry Emanuel.
All the ingredients are otherwise perfect for Erick's power-up, said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero. Dry air often stops rapid intensification, but Erick hasn't run into dry air and the atmosphere around it is extremely moist, she said. It's got a good stormy eye forming and has what would be the ideal shape of a strengthening storm, she said.
Studies have linked human-caused climate change in general to more bouts of rapid intensification, as well as wetter and slower storms, Corbosiero said. But it would take more study, usually after the storm hits, to find any potential link between global warming and Erick in particular, if there is one, she said.
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Workers board up a storefront as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Erick, in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Tourists stroll along the beach shore before the arrival of Hurricane Erick, in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Boats are removed from the water to Manzanillo beach ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Erick in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Boats are anchored near Manzanillo beach to be removed from the water ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Erick in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
People walk on Zicatela beach prior to the arrival of Hurricane Erick in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca state, Mexico, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Erick approaching Mexico's Pacific coast, Wednesday morning, June 18, 2025. (NOAA via AP)
A fisherman throws a net in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca state, Mexico, before the arrival of Hurricane Erick, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.
Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.
“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.
A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”
The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.
He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.
Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.
U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.
“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.
A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
People place flowers for a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Friday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Kelly Morrison D-Minn., center, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., second from the right, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., far right, at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference as Police Chief Brian O'Hara listens, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents look on as protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two people sit in the street with their hands up in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Two people sit in the street holding hands in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
