Los Mochis | |
|---|---|
Municipal seat | |
 Northern Suburbs  Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus  House of Conrado Espinoza  Los Mochis letters  Sinaloa Park  Cerro de La Memoria | |
 Interactive map of Los Mochis | |
  Los Mochis Location in Mexico Show map of Sinaloa Los Mochis Los Mochis (Mexico) Show map of Mexico | |
| Coordinates:25°47′0.59″N108°59′37.47″W / 25.7834972°N 108.9937417°W /25.7834972; -108.9937417 | |
| Country |  Mexico |
| State | Sinaloa |
| Municipality | Ahome |
| Founded in | 1893 |
| Elevation | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 256,613 (124,228 males 132,385 females) |
| Metro areaGDP (PPP, constant 2015 values) | |
| • Year | 2023 |
| • Total | $7.3 billion[1] |
| • Per capita | $21,900 |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain Standard Time) |
| Postal code | 81200 to |
Los Mochis (Spanish pronunciation:[losˈmotʃis]) is a coastal city in northernSinaloa,Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality ofAhome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population.
Los Mochis is the western terminus of theChihuahua-Pacific Railroad (El Chepe), which passes through the scenicCopper Canyon. This railway was approved byPresidentPorfirio Díaz as a trade route linking the cattle markets inKansas City with the nearest port on thePacific Ocean,Topolobampo.
Today the North Pacific irrigation region (Sinaloa-Sonora) in which the Fort Valley is the largest district and is the principal agricultural area of Sinaloa, containing over 70% of all irrigated land and producing sugar cane, cotton,rice,flowers, and many types of vegetables. The valley is one of the largest producers ofmangoes in Mexico. Air transportation is provided byLos Mochis Airport. Nearby Topolobampo is the second largest natural deepwater port in the world, and is known for its commercialfishing and increasingly important role in shipping.
The indigenous peoples of this location includeYoreme (Mayo),Cahita, andGuasaves/Tamazulas.[2] The name Los Mochis comes frommochim, the plural ofmochic, theCahitan word for "earth turtle". The noun is used to refer to the flowers ofBoerhavia coccinea.[citation needed]
Initial development began in 1893 by a group of Americanutopian socialists who were adherents of Albert Kimsey Owen, an American civil engineer who built the first irrigation ditches in the valley. The colony survived for 31 years. Owen, who came to do studies for the construction of a railway, was enchanted by Ohuira Bay and imagined the city of the future, where railways and shipping lines converged to ship throughout the world. The port of Topolobampo continues to be developed and may realize Owen's dream.
The city was founded by a businessman named Benjamin F. Johnston, who came to make a fortune in the cultivation ofsugarcane. Johnston arrived at Topolobampo, attracted by Owen's city project. He saw an opportunity to exploit resources such as sugar cane. With Edward Lycan, who had been linked to Zacarías Ochoa, owner of atrapiche (raw sugar mill) named "El Águila", Johnston initiated the construction of asugar mill. In 1898, Johnston laid its first stone and drove the rapid growth of the city around it. The first harvest was in 1903. Ochoa died suddenly, and Johnston seized businesses that Lycan and Ochoa founded. "El Águila Sugar Refining Company" later became the United Sugar Company.
Johnston was an influential and powerful businessman, who personally drew up the plans for the wide and straight streets of Los Mochis. It was not recognized as a city until 20 April 1903, along with Topolobampo, by decree of mayor Ramon C. López during the governorship of Francisco Cañedo. On 20 December 1917, the town of Ahome was established by decree of the local legislature. In 1918, Florencio A. Valdés was the first elected mayor of Los Mochis. On 1 April 1935, the Ahome City Council declared Los Mochis the seat of government of Ahome, city councillor Modesto G. Castro noting that Los Mochis was already several times more populous. The decision was ratified by the state legislature on 10 May 1936. The transfer took place promptly and without major problems, and municipal offices were installed in a house owned by Don Fco. Beltran, at the corner of Hidalgo and Zaragoza next to the former union hall.
Los Mochis is currently the commercial center ofValle del Fuerte and its influence extends from the municipalities of El Fuerte, Choix, and Guasave in southern Sinaloa to the state of Sonora to the north. The economic development of the city that began with the sugar industry is now based on the high-tech agriculture practiced throughout northwestern Mexico.
Los Mochis has ahot arid climate (KöppenBWh) despite averaging 330 millimetres or 13 inches of rain annually. Summers are extremely hot, reaching 40 °C (104 °F) with overnight lows of 26 °C (78.8 °F) with high humidity make the nights uncomfortable, and a heat index reaching 45 °C (113 °F) in the day. Winters are very warm, reaching 30 °C (86 °F) in the day, even though the lowest temperature recorded was 2.5 °C (36.5 °F) during January 1971. Rainfall concentrates in the summer: it is common to see thunderstorms and even occasionalhurricanes in August and September, but winters are dry with almost no rainfall, though on 29 December 1978 133.4 millimetres (5.25 in) fell. The highest daily rainfall, however, totaled 211 millimetres (8.31 in) from a hurricane that hit the area on 8 October 1985.
| Climate data for Los Mochis (1951–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.0 (96.8) | 38.5 (101.3) | 40.0 (104.0) | 40.0 (104.0) | 43.0 (109.4) | 44.0 (111.2) | 45.0 (113.0) | 47.5 (117.5) | 48.0 (118.4) | 43.0 (109.4) | 40.0 (104.0) | 36.0 (96.8) | 48.0 (118.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.1 (79.0) | 27.7 (81.9) | 29.7 (85.5) | 32.5 (90.5) | 35.2 (95.4) | 37.1 (98.8) | 37.6 (99.7) | 37.5 (99.5) | 36.7 (98.1) | 35.2 (95.4) | 30.7 (87.3) | 26.5 (79.7) | 32.7 (90.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 19.9 (67.8) | 21.5 (70.7) | 24.0 (75.2) | 26.8 (80.2) | 30.1 (86.2) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 28.4 (83.1) | 23.4 (74.1) | 19.5 (67.1) | 25.5 (77.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.7 (53.1) | 12.1 (53.8) | 13.3 (55.9) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.4 (65.1) | 23.1 (73.6) | 25.4 (77.7) | 25.2 (77.4) | 24.7 (76.5) | 21.6 (70.9) | 16.1 (61.0) | 12.6 (54.7) | 18.3 (64.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) | 4.5 (40.1) | 6.0 (42.8) | 9.0 (48.2) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.0 (55.4) | 20.0 (68.0) | 19.5 (67.1) | 13.0 (55.4) | 12.0 (53.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 4.0 (39.2) | 2.5 (36.5) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 14.7 (0.58) | 8.0 (0.31) | 3.1 (0.12) | 0.5 (0.02) | 0.8 (0.03) | 6.3 (0.25) | 48.2 (1.90) | 87.5 (3.44) | 92.4 (3.64) | 33.4 (1.31) | 17.8 (0.70) | 18.8 (0.74) | 331.5 (13.05) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 2.0 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 5.8 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 31.9 |
| Source: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional[3] | |||||||||||||
Los Mochis is known for its sports culture and large, high-quality sporting facilities (Ciudades Deportivas) intended to promote participation in sports. It has two large sporting facilities that haverunning tracks, pools,tennis courts,baseball fields and afootball stadium with a capacity of 11,000.
The city is home to theMexican Pacific League'sCañeros de Los Mochis baseball club. The city's football team is called the Murciélagos de Los Mochis, and its basketball team is known as the Pioneros.
With many World Champions and undefeated boxers, Los Mochis is considered one of Mexico's best boxing's cities.[4]
TheFerrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico provides daily passenger service toChihuahua, Chihuahua in north-central Mexico. Freight service on this route is provided by the interstate rail conglomerateFerromex, or Ferrocarril de Mexicano, which also links to the port city ofTopolobampo.[5]
| Preceding station | Ferromex | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Chepe Regional | Sufragio towardChihuahua | ||
| Chepe Express | El Fuerte towardCreel-Sierra Tarahumara | |||
| Former services | ||||
| Preceding station |  N de M | Following station | ||
| Topolobampo Terminus | El Chepe | Constancia towardOjinaga | ||
The city is onMexican Federal Highway 15, the main north-south route fromNogales toMexico City.
Thecity's airport offer domestic flights, mainly to Mexico's largest cities and is served by several airlines.
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| Geographic | |
| Other | |
