Video: Go behind the scenes with AP
Interactive: Seating chart for hearing
37 seconds ago 2009-07-18T10:39:22-07:00
MIAMI (AFP) – Andres has become the first hurricane of the season in the Pacific Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday as the storm moved toward the west coast of Mexico.
Packing 75 mile-per-hour (120 kilometer-per-hour) winds, Andres was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category One hurricane Tuesday afternoon and at 2100 GMT was located 65 miles (105 kilometers) west-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico.
"A hurricane warning remains in effect for the southwestern coast of Mexico from Punto San Telmo to Cabo Correintes," NHC said, saying the warning means hurricane conditions "are expected somewhere in the warning area within 24 hours."
Andres was expected to dump three to six inches of rain over parts of west-central Mexico, with isolated areas receiving up to eight inches, the Miami-based NHC said.
However, the storm was expected to lose its punch in the coming days.
"Although Andres has become a hurricane today, weakening is forecast in the next day or two," it said.