Hurricane Roslyn forecast to hit Mexico's Pacific coast

MEXICO CITY: Tropical storm Roslyn strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast early Saturday and was expected to make landfall at near major hurricane strength, weather services said.

At 0600 GMT, the storm was 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the port city of Manzanillo, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

It was packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kph and moving northwest at 11 kph.

Roslyn had rapidly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane, the NHC said, warning it was expected get even stronger.

“Roslyn is forecast to be near major hurricane strength when it passes near and makes landfall along the west-central coast of Mexico late Saturday and Sunday, accompanied by strong winds and a potentially dangerous storm surge,” it said.

“Heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding and possible landslides” in areas of coastal southwest and west-central Mexico, the NHC warned.

Authorities have declared a preventive alert in the Pacific coast states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Sinaloa.

Tropical cyclones hit Mexico every year on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, usually between May and November.

In October 1997, Hurricane Pauline hit Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 4 storm, leaving more than 200 dead.