Hurricane Sandra weakens as it heads to Mexico Pacific coast

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandra weakened to a Category 2 storm overnight and was expected to lose more strength on Friday as it headed toward Mexico's Pacific coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Sandra, about 280 miles (451 km) south-southwest of the southern tip of the Pacific port of Mazatlan on Friday morning, had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (161 kph), the NHC said. Sandra is the strongest storm recorded in the eastern Pacific Ocean this late in the year. Mexico called off a tropical storm watch for the southernmost portion of Baja California. But it issued a tropical storm warning for part of the mainland of Mexico and for Las Islas Marias, an archipelago off the Pacific coast. "Rapid weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Sandra is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm by tonight and become a remnant low and dissipate after moving inland over Mexico on Saturday," the Miami-based center said. Last month, Hurricane Patricia, which at one point registered as one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded, landed on Mexico's Pacific coast but did not inflict major damage. (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Dan Grebler)