(NOAA via AP)

Hurricane Willa grew into a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm and swept toward Mexico’s Pacific coast with winds of 160 mph (260 kph) Monday, threatening a stretch of high-rise resort hotels, surfing beaches and fishing villages. The hurricane was expected to pass over or near the Islas Marias — a set of islands about 60 miles offshore that include a nature preserve and a federal prison — early Tuesday, then blow ashore in the afternoon or the evening somewhere along a 140-mile (220-kilometre) section extending from the resort town of Mazatlan to San Blas. Willa was located about 135 miles south-southwest of Las Islas Marias, Mexico, and some 110 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, the hurricane center said in its 5 p.m. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned that Willa could bring 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimetres) of rain — with up to 18 inches (45 centimetres) in some places — to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Vicente, which formed in the Pacific off southern Mexico on Saturday, began to weaken while hovering along the southern Mexican coast on Sunday and by early Monday was located about 195 miles (310 km) southeast of Acapulco.
Hurricane Willa strengthens to a category 4 hurricane off the Pacific Coast of Mexico.