Moving northwards through an environment conducive for additional development, Newton rapidly strengthened, reaching hurricane strength on the following day.

The cyclone continued to rapidly weaken over the rugged terrain of Sonora, and it degenerated into a remnant low just south of the Mexico–United States border on September 7.

Near the location of landfall, the storm led to loss of power and access to drinking water while other communities were isolated due to damage to road infrastructure.

A low pressure area developed within the wave early on September 4, and associated deep convection became sufficiently organised for the system to be classified as a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC that day.

[1] The northern and eastern parts of Newton's eyewall struck the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula a few hours after peak intensity, and the center of the storm passed just a few miles offshore of Cabo San Lucas.

Newton weakened slightly as its eastern eyewall passed over the mountainous terrain of Baja California Sur, and made landfall near El Cuñaño on the western side of the peninsula with estimated sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (135 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 979 millibars (28.9 inHg) at 1400 UTC on that day.

Passage over the Baja California Peninsula caused Newton to weaken gradually throughout the day, and its convection became increasingly asymmetric and displaced to the north.

The storm, however, maintained hurricane strength over land, and, as indicated by microwave imagery around 0000 UTC on September 7, redeveloped a closed eyewall after emerging over the warm waters of the Gulf of California.

This trend proved to be short-lived: increasing deep-layer wind shear caused Newton to weaken into a tropical storm by 0600 UTC about 60 miles (95 km) west of Guaymas.

The cyclone continued to rapidly weaken under the influence of increasing shear and rugged terrain, and lost all its deep convection later that day.

Newton degenerated into a remnant low by 1800 UTC just south of the Mexico–United States border, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Nogales, Arizona.

[1] The Government of Mexico issued a hurricane watch for the Baja California Peninsula between Cabo San Lázaro and San Evaristo on September 4 following the formation of Tropical Depression Fifteen-E.[4] When the depression was upgraded to a tropical storm six hours later, the watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning and extended till La Paz.

By early on September 5, large parts of the coasts of the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California Sur were under tropical cyclone watches and warnings, which were discontinued gradually as Newton moved inland and weakened.

[18] Seventy homes were damaged and 200 people were trapped in the resort town of Acapulco, prompting air evacuations via police, marines and the army.

Nearby, the communities of San Ignacio and Herocina Mulege were cut off from the outside world due to damage to the Mexican Federal Highway 1.

[29] The remnants of Newton brought heavy rainfall to the southwestern United States, peaking at 5.67 in (144 mm) at Miller Carr Canyon in southeastern Arizona.