Hurricane Marie grows stronger in Mexican Pacific

Powerful Hurricane Marie kicked high swells along Mexico's northern Pacific coast on Monday, even as it weakened to a Category 3 storm. The US National Hurricane Center said it would likely raise dangerous waves along the Southern California coast this week. The Miami-based center said that on Monday evening Marie had sustained winds of up to 135 mph (215 kph) and was located about 505 miles (815 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. It said the storm was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph). Swells provoked by the storm were affecting much of Mexico's Pacific coast and the center warned of dangerous surf and rip current conditions. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) away from the storm's center, with tropical storm-force winds reaching out to 310 miles (500 kilometers). The hurricane center said Marie is expected to gradual weaken as it moves in a northwestwardly direction in the coming days, and could be downgraded to a tropical storm by Wednesday, according to AP.