Hurricane, Tropical Storm near Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Bud, the first hurricane this year to form in the eastern Pacific, and Tropical Storm Carlotta, the third Pacific tropical storm of the season, swirled far off the coast of Baja California state on Wednesday, posing no threat to land as they drifted farther out to sea, forecasters said. “There is absolutely no threat to land” from either Bud or Carlotta, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Springs, Maryland. Bud, which became a hurricane on Tuesday afternoon, was located about 600 miles (965 kilometers) southwest of Baja's southernmost tip early Wednesday and was traveling at 13 mph (20 kph) in a northwesterly direction, Feltgen said. The hurricane had wind speeds of about 85 knots (98 mph/160 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. It was expected to peak at 105 mph (170 kph) later Wednesday and overnight as it travels farther out into the Pacific, Feltgen said. Tropical Storm Carlotta was located about 320 miles (510 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and was moving away from the Mexican coast at 13 mph (20 kph) in a northwesterly direction, the Hurricane Center said. The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph (75 kph) with higher gusts, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 50 miles (85 kms) from the center. Carlotta was expected to become a hurricane within 24 hours and reach its peak intensity in about 48 hours, or by Friday afternoon, the Hurricane Center said. Rains dumped on Mexico's coast due to the storm were diminishing as Carlotta moved farther offshore, the center said. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20060712-0905-mexico-tropicalweather.html