MEXICO CITY (AP) - Hurricane Amanda rapidly weakened Monday far off Mexico’s Pacific coast and was not expected to threaten land.
After starting the day as a powerful category 4 storm, the hurricane had dropped to category 2 by Monday night, with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph (165 kph). That was down from its peak of 155 mph (250 kph) on Sunday, a reading that made Amanda the most powerful May hurricane for the eastern Pacific since the mid-1960s, when reliable records began to be kept.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Amanda was expected to keep weakening quickly over the next few days and likely would be a tropical storm by Wednesday.
The hurricane was centered about 650 miles (1,045 kilometers) south-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and was moving north-northwest near 5 mph (7 kph).
While Amanda was forecast to stay out to sea, Mexico’s National Meteorological Service said rains associated with the storm could cause drenching rains in western and central Mexico.
Mexico’s national civil protection authorities urged people living near the coast to keep an eye out for swelling rivers and potential mudslides in mountainous areas and to listen to broadcasts about the storm’s location and possible effects.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season officially started May 15. The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.