Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Hurricane Greg churns off Mexico's Pacific coast
by Staff Writers
Mexico City (AFP) Aug 18, 2011
Hurricane Greg, the seventh named storm in the eastern Pacific,
churned off Mexico's southwest coast Thursday but was expected to
weaken and posed no immediate risk to land, US forecasters said.
At 2100 GMT, Greg was located about 335 miles (535 kilometers)
southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, and was moving
west-northwest at nearly 14 miles per hour, the Miami-based US
National Hurricane Center said.
The category one storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 85
miles per hour with higher gusts, but was "moving over cooler
waters and weakening is forecast during the next couple of days,"
the NHC said.
Several major storms or hurricanes have buffeted Mexico's Pacific
coast in recent weeks but most have remained offshore.
The season's first named storm, Arlene, left at least 16 people
dead and drenched much of the country in July.
Tropical storms and hurricanes last year caused flooding and
mudslides in Mexico that killed 125 people, left hundreds of
thousands homeless and caused more than $4 billion in damages.