Blas becomes first hurricane in East Pacific

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NASA

This visible image of Blas was captured Sunday by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.

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NASA

This visible image of Agatha was captured Sunday by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.

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NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

The National Hurricane Center expects Blas to intensify into a major Category 3 storm by Wednesday before weakening later in the week.

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NASA / NOAA GOES WEST

Tropical Storm Blas, now a hurricane, and Tropical Storm Agatha formed Saturday, becoming the first and second named storms of the East Pacific hurricane season.

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Blas gained strength Monday in the East Pacific, becoming the first hurricane of the season.

The Category 1 hurricane, about 760 miles south-southwest of Baja California, was strengthening with sustained winds of 85 mph and moving west-northwest at 14 mph at 5 p.m. Monday.

Blas is expected to continue to intensify and could become a major, Category 3 storm today. It’s expected to weaken later in the week as it approaches the Central Pacific and moves over cooler waters.

Meanwhile, another storm in the East Pacific weakened.

Agatha, north of Blas, weakened to a remnant low.

Agatha had sustained winds of 35 mph Monday afternoon and was moving west at 12 mph about 1,345 miles west of Baja California.