MIAMI, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Hurricane Rick, with winds of 180 mph, became the second strongest hurricane ever recorded in the eastern north Pacific late Saturday, U.S. forecasters said.
The storm was the strongest in the area since Hurricane Linda in 1997, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Rick remained far out to sea, moving parallel to the Mexican coast. Forecasters said officials and residents in southern Baja California and the southwestern mainland of Mexico should monitor the storm's movement.
The storm whipped up heavy surf on the southern coast of Mexico.
At 8 p.m. PDT, Rick's eye was 295 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo and 605 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas. The storm was moving west-northwest at almost 14 mph.
Forecasters predicted Rick would begin turning north Monday, then veer toward the east on a track that would take it over the southern end of Baja California and the Gulf of California late in the week before hitting the Mexican mainland. The storm is expected to weaken before making landfall.
At 8 p.m., the maximum sustained winds were 180 mph. Hurricane winds extended 45 miles from the center and tropical storm winds 155 miles.
