Tropical Storm Paul crept toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula and was expected to brush past luxury resorts on its tip as a moderate hurricane early this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, according to Reuters. Paul, which formed from a tropical depression off the country's Pacific Coast on Saturday and had maximum winds near 50 mph (85 kph), will become a minimum-strength hurricane on Tuesday, the center said on Sunday. After passing near the resorts of Los Cabos on the tip of the peninsula, which is popular with U.S. tourists, it will likely enter the Sea of Cortez and run aground near areas of the mainland that took a hit from Hurricane Lane in September. Hurricanes that enter the Sea of Cortez, surrounded on three sides by land, tend to fizzle out after running aground, posing no risk to the United States. Paul was curling northwest toward the peninsula, which extends down from the U.S. state of California, and is seen strengthening due to climatic factors, including warm ocean currents, the hurricane center said. The luxury resorts and golf courses of Los Cabos, on the tip of Baja California, had two narrow hurricane escapes last month.
