Flossie becomes a hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast after rapidly strengthening

MEXICO CITY AP Flossie has strengthened into a hurricane off Mexico s southwestern Pacific coast The U S National Hurricane Center in Miami announced Flossie became a Category hurricane Monday night and has maximum sustained winds of mph kph The hurricane center declared Flossie was moving west-northwest off the Mexican coast and was about miles kilometers south of Manzanillo Flossie was expected to skirt the coast for a sparse days while dropping rain on several Mexican states THIS IS A URGENT NEWS UPDATE AP s earlier story follows below MEXICO CITY AP Tropical Storm Flossie continued to gain steam off Mexico s southwestern Pacific coast on Monday afternoon and was projected to turn into a hurricane overnight Meanwhile the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Barry dumped rain on eastern Mexico Flossie strengthened with maximum sustained winds of mph kph It was centered about miles kilometers southwest of Zihuatanejo and was moving northwest at mph Mexico s authorities issued a tropical storm warning along the southwestern coast from Punta San Telmo to Playa Perula A tropical storm watch remained in effect for the southwest coast from Zihuatanejo to Cabo Corrientes A watch means tropical storm conditions are viable in the area within two days Flossie is expected to rapidly intensify into a hurricane late Monday or early Tuesday then skirt the coast for a sparse days While its center is forecast to remain offshore moderate rain was likely in parts of Oaxaca Guerrero Michoac n Colima and Jalisco through early next week Meanwhile the remnants of Barry were bringing heavy rain to Mexico s Gulf coast after it came ashore as a tropical depression south of Tampico with maximum sustained winds of mph the U S National Hurricane Center in Miami commented Follow AP s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https apnews com hub latin-america Source