Hurricane Rick Strengthens to Category 3 Storm Off Mexico
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Print ShareThisMIAMI — Dangerous Hurricane Rick strengthened early Saturday into a major Category 3 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast with winds nearing 115 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Rick was centered about 250 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, and was moving west-northwest near 12 mph at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT), the Miami tracking center said.
Acapulco's Civil Protection Department had earlier issued a warning that expected rains from outer bands of the storm could trigger landslides and flooding in the resort city.
Forecasters say Rick was expected to continue intensifying offshore through the weekend as the storm treks roughly parallel to southwestern Mexico's coast. They added that Rick could become a dangerous Category 4 storm later Saturday or sometime Sunday.
"This storm has undergone rapid intensification," Hurricane Specialist John Cangialosi told The Associated Press, adding Rick was being fueled by warm waters. "It certainly already is dangerous and will continue to be so through the next few days."
He said Saturday that the storm posed no immediate threat to land, although its course could bring it closer to the Baja California peninsula by midweek. Rick's outer rainbands were already moving onshore along the coast, he added.
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