The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday that Hurricane Blanca has strengthened to a category 2 storm off Mexico's Pacific Coast, and is expected to move toward the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Blanca was roughly 655 kilometers south-southwest of the beach resort of Zihuatanejo, with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour, the center said. The storm was nearly stationary, but is forecast to accelerate Thursday toward the north-northwest. The hurricane is the second of the year off the Mexican coasts.
