Pacific Hurricane Carlos under watch as it heads to Mexico

ACAPULCO: Officials are keeping a close watch on Hurricane Carlos as it spins just out to sea, brushing by fishing villages, port cities and tourist resorts on Mexico’s southwestern coast.
The storm maintained hurricane force off Mexico’s Pacific coast early Tuesday, as parts of the United States braced for a separate storm system expected to unleash heavy rains.
Carlos, a category one hurricane, crept in a northwesterly direction parallel to Mexico’s southwestern coast in the Pacific Ocean, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
Civil Protection officials in Michoacan, the next state in Carlos’ sights after it battered the shoreline of neighboring Guerrero, warned of heavy rain and possible hail. Waves were forecast to reach nearly 15 feet (4.5 meters).
Farther to the north in Jalisco state, home to the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, officials were inspecting coastal areas and preparations ahead of rains predicted for Tuesday, but ports, schools and airports remained open.
Early Tuesday, Carlos was centered about 120 miles (190 km) west-southwest of the port city of Lazaro Cardenas with top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm was moving west-northwest about 6 mph (9 kph).
The center predicted Carlos would lose strength and become a tropical storm by Wednesday.
Over the weekend, high surf kicked up by Carlos swamped some boats and washed away small palm-frond beach huts in Acapulco, while strong winds knocked down trees and billboards. No major damage or deaths were reported.
Rain accumulations of 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) were possible in southwestern Mexico, with a chance for up to 15 inches (37 cm) in some areas, the Hurricane Center said.
A tropical storm warning was in effect from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes. A hurricane watch was posted from Punta San Telmo to Playa Perula.
On the lowest of the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, the hurricane packed maximum sustained winds of 120 km (75 miles) per hour as it swirled some 140 km southwest of the port of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan state.
Over in the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Bill was bringing winds of 80 km per hour and was expected to make landfall over the Texas coast later Tuesday.
Forecasters said Bill would unleash up to 20 cm (8 inches) of rain over eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma.
“The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters,” forecasters said.
Carlos is expected to produce rains in the states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit, with accumulations of up to 25cm possible through Thursday, the hurricane center said. Swells could cause life-threatening surf, as well as mudslides and flash floods.
Carlos is the third hurricane of the Pacific storm season, following Andres, which never made landfall, and Blanca, which weakened to a tropical storm when it reached the Baja California peninsula earlier this month.