MEXICO CITY - Hurricane Blanca weakened slightly to a category 3 storm on Saturday as it churned toward Mexico 's Baja California peninsula , according to the latest update form the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). Blanca, the second hurricane to form off Mexico 's Pacific coast this year, is located about 320 miles south of the tourist hub of Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the peninsula.
The hurricane, which was rated a category 4 storm earlier in the day, features maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, and is expected to make landfall early Monday morning near the lightly-populated area of San Carlos, a small fishing village.
Blanca will likely be downgraded further to tropical storm status on Saturday night or Sunday when it reaches the west coast of the southern Baja California peninsula , the NHC said.
A second U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane was sent Saturday morning to evaluate the storm, which is expected to turn toward the north-northwest later in the day.
Luis Felipe Puente , the national head of emergency services, told reporters that major Pacific coast ports including Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta have already been closed to smaller ships as a precaution.
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He added that 18,000 tourists are currently vacationing in and around the Cabo San Lucas resort, nearly three-quarters of whom are foreigners and may require help leaving the area.
Blanca could produce rainfall of between 6 to 10 inches over much of Baja California, including the possibility of "life threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC added.
Last September, Hurricane Odile battered southern Baja California, wreaking havoc on Cabo San Lucas and stranding thousands of tourists.
