Hurricane Rick becomes Category 5 off Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Hurricane Rick's fierce winds churned up dangerous surf off Mexico's coast early Sunday, the strongest storm recorded in the eastern North Pacific Ocean in more than a decade.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Saturday that Rick was an 'extremely dangerous' Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 180 mph (285 kph). The center said Rick was likely to lose some of that punch as it nears the Baja California peninsula in coming days.

The hurricane was projected to stay well off the Mexican coast for several days before bending east over cooler waters and approach the Baja California Peninsula as a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane sometime Wednesday, forecasters said.

Authorities in the resort city of Acapulco closed the port to small craft after Rick kicked up heavy waves and gusts of wind.

Acapulco's Civil Protection Department had warned that rains from the outer bands of the storm could cause landslides and flooding in the resort city, but no such effects were reported.

At 11 p.m. EDT Saturday (0300 GMT Sunday), the storm's center was located about 295 miles (475 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico.

Rick is the second-strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific since 1966, when experts began keeping reliable records, said Hurricane Center meteorologist Hugh Cobb.

The strongest was Hurricane Linda, which generated maximum winds of 185 mph (296 kph) in September 1997.

"Rick is probably going to go into the record books as one of the most rapidly intensifying hurricanes," Cobb said, adding the storm was fueled by warm ocean temperatures.

The storm was generating some waves up to 50 feet (15 meters) high near its core, Cobb said, adding there were ship reports of 16-foot (5-meter) seas elsewhere off the Mexican coast.

Cobb said that while the storm could possibly strengthen slightly, it has probably peaked, and would likely weaken in coming days as it enters relatively cooler waters.

He said the storm's danger should not be underestimated, however, as Rick will still have the potential as a Category 1 or Category 2 storm to provoke heavy rains and unleash mudslides.

Cobb said it is still uncertain whether the eye of the storm will make landfall.

Rick was forecast to pass near Socorro Island, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of Cabo San Lucas, on Tuesday. The island is a nature reserve with a small Mexican Navy post and it hosts scuba-diving expeditions in winter months.