Tropical Pacific moisture drenches central U.S. 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.

Warning areas and potential impact

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 minor dam.

Floodwaters threatened the state's famous chile crop at harvest time.

And 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.