Storm Lorena became a hurricane again early on Friday as it closed in on the south of Mexico‘s Baja California peninsula, threatening to lash the popular beach resorts of Los Cabos with heavy rain and high winds.
Lorena, a category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was about 60 miles east of Cabo San Lucas with maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a statement.
The eye of the hurricane is due to veer around the tip of the peninsula and move up the coast on the western reaches of Baja California Sur state this weekend, NHC projections show.
Lorena could strengthen further in the next day or so and is expected to begin weakening by Saturday night, the NHC said.
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After that the weather front should dissipate, but it may be absorbed by tropical storm Mario, which is moving towards the northwest further out in the Pacific, the center said.
Earlier this week, Lorena hit parts of the Pacific coast of Mexico with torrential downpours, forcing schools to suspend classes and disrupting maritime traffic for major ports.
Lorena is forecast to produce eight to 15 centimetres of rain in parts of southern Baja California Sur, and as much as 8 inches (20 cm) in some areas, the NHC said.
The storm may cause flash flooding as well as swells that spark life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
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