Hurricane Dora formed today in the East Pacific, far from the Hawaiian islands, but is expected to strengthen as it moves west toward the Central Pacific.

The National Hurricane Center said at 5 p.m. that Dora was 510 miles west-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, moving west at 16 mph. Dora is a small storm with hurricane-force winds extending only 10 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds up to 45 miles, forecasters said.

The five-day forecast for Dora has the storm continuing to strengthen as it moves west, peaking as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 125 on Thursday.

Forecasters said Dora will weaken back to a Category 1 storm by Sunday when it is expected to cross into the Central Pacific, still far from Hawaii.

Longer-range computer models show Dora hundreds of miles southwest of the Big Island late next week.