Hurricane Lane strengthened to a dangerous category three on Saturday as residents of storm-weary resorts on Mexico's Pacific coast tied down yachts and boarded up windows for its expected landfall later in the day. The storm was packing sustained winds near 115 mph (185kph) and was moving north-northwest toward the Gulf of California. At 0900 GMT the storm was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Mazatland and about 185 miles (300 kilometers) east of the resort of Cabo San Lucas. «The center of lane is expected to make landfall along the Pacific coast ... later today,» the National Hurricane Center in Miami said, adding that the storm could get stronger still before making landfall. Mexico issued hurricane warnings for the southern tip of Baja and early Saturday it extended the warning for the mainland Pacific coastline northward, warning residents between El Roblito and Topolobampo that hurricane conditions were expected within 24 hours, the Associated Press reported.
