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MEXICO CITY >> Hurricane Darby formed in the Pacific off Mexico’s southwest coast today, while Hurricane Celia strengthened into a powerful Category 5 storm farther out at sea.
Neither posed an immediate threat to land.
Darby, a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 90 mph (150 kph), was located about 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of Acapulco this evening, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
It was expected to strengthen over the next two days as it heads west-northwest.
The hurricane center projected the storm could take a sudden eastward turn early next week, putting it on a path toward Mexico’s southern Pacific coast.
Meanwhile, Celia became a Category 5 hurricane — the strongest designation on the Saffir-Simpson scale, used to measure wind speed– as it headed west across the open Pacific. Its maximum sustained winds increased to 160 mph.
It was located about 785 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and more than 2,500 miles from Hawaii.
