Category 4 hurricane threatens Mexico's west coast

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) - Jimena strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast Sunday, and forecasters said it could hit the Baja California peninsula as a major storm in the coming days.

Jimena kicked up surf along the northwestern coast and generated strong winds that bent trees in the resort town of Zihuatanejo, uprooting at least one. Strong waves and wind prevented a couple on a boat from reaching port, forcing them to spend the night at sea, said Zihuatanejo coast guard official Jose Angel Lara.

If Jimena stays on its northwestern track, it would carry hurricane-force winds to the tip of resort-dotted Baja California by late Monday and slam into the peninsula by Wednesday morning, said Richard Pasch, a senior specialist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

Pasch said Jimena's path "is subject to some uncertainty" and that it is difficult to predict exactly how strong the storm will be when it nears Baja.

"I think it's going to be a substantial hurricane by the time it approaches," he said.

On Sunday afternoon, Jimena had maximum sustained winds near 140 mph (220 kmh) and was moving west northwest at 8 mph (13 kph.)

It was centered about 270 miles (440 kms) south of Cabo Corrientes, a coastal town in the western state of Jalisco.

Authorities in Cabo Corrientes were setting up shelters in case of heavier wind and rain, said Arturo Garcia, an official with Jalisco's Civil Protection agency.

The U.S. hurricane center issued a public advisory for residents in western Mexico and the southern part of the Baja peninsula to keep tabs on Jimena.

Economists from around the world were scheduled to attend a conference sponsored by the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Cabos at the southern tip of the peninsula. It was not clear if the conference will still take place; the organization's office was closed Sunday.

Farther out in the Pacific, a weakening Tropical Storm Kevin had top winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was centered about 940 miles (1,515 kms) southwest of the Baja peninsula's southern tip.