Meteorologist: Bud and Carlotta 'no threat'
Wednesday, July 12, 2006; Posted: 4:50 p.m. EDT (20:50 GMT)
CITY (AP) -- Bud, the first hurricane of the eastern Pacific season, and Tropical Storm Carlotta posed no threat to land Wednesday as they charged across the sea well off Mexico's coast, forecasters said.
Bud, which became a hurricane on Tuesday afternoon, was located about 600 miles southwest of the tip of the Baja California Peninsula Wednesday and was traveling at 13 mph to the northwest, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Springs, Maryland.
"There is absolutely no threat to land," Feltgen said.
The hurricane had wind speeds of about 98 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. It was expected to peak at 105 mph later Wednesday and overnight as it traveled farther out into the Pacific, Feltgen said.
Tropical Storm Carlotta was located about 320 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and was moving at 13 mph in a northwesterly direction, the Hurricane Center said.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph with higher gusts. Carlotta was expected to become a hurricane within 24 hours and reach its peak intensity by Friday afternoon, the Hurricane Center said.
Rains dumped on Mexico's coast from the storm were diminishing as Carlotta moved farther offshore, the center said.
