MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Hurricane Blanca continues to grow in force off Mexico’s coast, threatening the Cabo San Lucas resort city located on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center (NHC) alerts.
The category 4 hurricane has sustained winds of about 220 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour) and was located 1,330 kilometers (around 820 miles) southeast of Cabo San Lucas on Wednesday, NHC said.
"Swells generated by Blanca will begin affecting portions of the coast of southwestern Mexico during the next couple of days. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions," NHC warned in its Wednesday public advisory.
Earlier this week, category 4 hurricane Andres opened the 2015 Pacific hurricane season.
During last year’s season, category 4 Hurricane Odile hit the Baja California peninsula, leading to the death of 15 people.
The Saffir-Simpson hurricane (wind) scale, or SSH(W)S, has a total of five categories, which are assigned to tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions or storms based on the speed of their sustained winds. The highest Category Five is given to storms with winds surpassing 251 kilometers (156 miles) per hour.
