Hurricane Paul strengthened Monday with winds above 175 kilometers per hour (kph) as it began curving toward the Baja California peninsula. The storm was moving northwest at about 8 kph, and forecasters predicted it would strengthen further and could hit Mexico's Pacific coast in the next few days. The hurricane was on a course that would bring it south of the southern tip of Baja California-a resort area that has been battered by two other hurricanes this season-before hitting Mexico's Pacific coast near the resort of Mazatlan. At 1500 GMT, Paul was about 730 kilometers southwest of Cabo San Lucas, the popular resort at the southern tip of Baja California. It had maximum sustained winds of 177 kph, just below Category 3 strength.
