Powerful Hurricane John weakened this morning as it moved northwest in the Pacific Ocean just off the west coast of Mexico.
Forecasters think the storm will regain strength later today. But John's center is expected to remain offshore until the hurricane turns westward into open waters.
The storm could still rake Mexico's west coast with hurricane-force winds exceeding 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour.
Hurricane-strength winds could extend as far as 45 miles (72 kilometers) from the storm's center, says Todd Kimberlain, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
The winds and rain are threatening resort towns such as Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta (map of Mexico).
Mexican officials have issued warnings for about 250 miles (402 kilometers) of the mainland's coastline, as well as southern areas of the Baja California Peninsula.
Forecasters are also concerned that John's track might make a slight shift to the east.
Even a small deviation would send the storm into the Gulf of California and eventual landfall on either Baja California Sur or southwest Mexico.
The storm is not expected to affect the U.S. (Related: "Ernesto Weakens Over Florida" [August 2006].)
Cooling Off?
As of 8 a.m. ET today, Hurricane John's maximum winds diminished to about 125 miles (201 kilometers) an hour.
This reduced it to Category Three storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which ranks hurricanes from one to five on the basis of wind speeds and destructive potential.
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