New Tropical Storm Hector continues to strengthen off Mexico

A strengthening Tropical Storm Hector is swirling far off the coast of Mexico in the eastern Pacific, and forecasters expect it to become a hurricane by the weekend.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hector would gradually strengthen and reach hurricane strength by late Friday or early Saturday, but it also said the storm would continue to move deeper into the Pacific and would not pose any threat to land.

Hector had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) Wednesday night. It was centered about 1,010 miles (1,630 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula and it was moving toward the west at 12 mph (19 kph).