Tropical Storm Patricia has strengthened in the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of kilometers off Mexico's Baja California peninsula, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Monday. Forecasters said that at 900 GMT, Patricia's center was 490 kilometers south-southeast of the southern tip of Baja California. The storm was moving north-northwest at about 11 kilometers per hour (kph). The NHC said Patricia's maximum sustained winds were near 72 kph and more strengthening is expected in the next day or two. Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 115 kilometers from the center. Patricia became a named storm late Sunday, and a tropical storm watch may be required for part of the southern Baja California peninsula later on Monday, the NHC said.
