MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Norma will likely strengthen to hurricane status on Wednesday as it churns towards the popular Los Cabos tourist area on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted.
The center of the storm was located on Tuesday about 690 miles (1,110 km) south of Cabo San Lucas, the beach resort area at the southern tip of Baja California. NHC estimated the speed of Norma’s maximum sustained winds at 40 miles per hour (64 kph).
A Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale has maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph.
Norma is forecast to approach southern Baja California around midday on Sunday, according to the Miami-based center.
Last week, Hurricane Lidia battered Mexico’s mainland Pacific coast with significant rainfall and strong winds, killing at least one person.
(Reporting by Diego Ore and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
