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Hurricane Vance has formed in the Pacific Ocean and is strengthening and approaching the western coast of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported on Friday.
Vance was a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph), as it swirled about 730 kilometers (455 miles) south-southwest of Acapulco, and it could become a major Category 3 hurricane in the coming hours, the center noted.
It was moving north-northwest at nearly 8 km/h (5 mph) and will likely continue on that path through the weekend, approaching the Puerto Vallarta area by Monday. The hurricane's outer bands were already funneling gale-force winds and rough seas into Mexico's Gulf of Tehuantepec, the center indicated.
It has been an intense hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean, with storms forming in a chain near Hawaii and Mexico, while El Niño conditions, aggravated by global warming, are generating unusual meteorological phenomena, such as this week's severe flooding and tornadoes that struck the southwestern United States and the prolonged drought in Central America's Dry Corridor.
Vance would be the seventh consecutive major hurricane this year in the Pacific, after Nolo, Odalys, Polo, Rachel, Simon, and Trudy.
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