Once this shear lightened on June 24, the storm rapidly intensified to attain its peak strength with winds of 160 mph (255 km/h) and an estimated barometric pressure of 921 mbar (hPa; 27.20 inHg).

Over the following 42 hours, Hurricane Celia's sustained winds decreased to tropical storm force and the system began to stall over the open ocean by June 27.

Due to the high intensity and longevity of the hurricane, it significantly contributed to the record-high accumulated cyclone energy value for June 2010 in the eastern Pacific basin.

Tracking westward, little development took place and the system eventually crossed Central America and entered the Pacific Ocean on June 17.

Satellite overpasses of the storm revealed that Celia had already begun developing an eye-like feature at the surface, an indication that rapid intensification may ensue.

[10] Late on June 21, Celia turned due west as it moved around the south side of the ridge previously steering the hurricane to the west-southwest.

[13] By the evening of June 22, Celia was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and the eye was no longer apparent on satellite imagery, mainly due to cirrus clouds over the system.

[19] Rapid intensification soon followed as the storm reached Category 4 status,[20] becoming one of only a handful of tropical cyclones to do so during the month of June in the eastern Pacific.

[22] Hurricane Celia attained its peak intensity around 00:00 UTC, with sustained winds of 160 mph (255 km/h) and a barometric pressure estimated at 921 mbar (hPa; 27.20 inHg).

[23] During the late morning of June 25, Celia started rapidly weakening as it began to take a more northwesterly track into a more hostile environment, with cooler water temperatures and higher wind shear; all of these conditions are highly unfavorable for tropical cyclones.

[25] Traversing water temperatures estimated at 25 °C (77 °F), Celia continued to degenerate as it weakened to tropical storm status, by which time it was situated about 955 mi (1,535 km) southeast of the southern tip of Baja California Sur.

[26] Throughout June 27, the system gradually lost its forward momentum over the open water of the Pacific Ocean but managed to maintain minimal tropical storm status longer than initially anticipated.

[29] The remnants of Celia continued to drift towards the north before finally dissipating on June 30, about 990 mi (1,590 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California Sur.

[1] During Celia's early development stages, it brought moderate rainfall to parts of Oaxaca and Guerrero;[30] however, no loss of life or structural damage was reported.