Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Andres has gained strength to become the first hurricane of the Pacific season.

The National Hurricane Center said the hurricane off the southwestern coast of Mexico packed maximum winds near 75 mph.

Andres is forecast to weaken during the next day or two.

The center of the storm as of 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday was about 65 miles west-southwest of Manzanillo.

Andres is moving near 13 mph toward the northwest. It is forecast to track toward the west-northwest and pass very close to or over the southwestern coast of Mexico later Tuesday.