Hurricane Rick weakened to a Category 4 storm Sunday evening as it churned in the Pacific off the west coast of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.
Rick, still a powerful storm, was expected to weaken further before landfall by midweek. “Interests in southern Baja, California, and western Mainland, Mexico, should monitor the progress of this extremely dangerous hurricane,” forecasters said. “A hurricane watch may be required for portions of southern Baja, California, early Monday.” At 8 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), Rick posted 145 mph winds (230 km/hr) and was about 410 miles (660 km) south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Forecast models show that Rick could make landfall on the tip of Baja, California, by Wednesday morning, before crashing into the mainland later in the day. Earlier Sunday, Rick’s winds topped at 180 miles per hour, making it then the second-strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific in more than a decade. The strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific was Hurricane Linda, which reached winds of 185 miles per hour in 1997.
