Hurricane Rick roars across eastern North Pacific
•Hurricane Rick is Category 5
•Storm center is 500 miles (805 km) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
•Forecasters: Rick to lose some of its punch as it swings to southern Baja
•Strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific was Hurricane Linda in 1997
updated 5 minutes agoNext Article in World »
(CNN) -- Hurricane Rick, the second-strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific Ocean, churned up Pacific waters Sunday afternoon with winds near 175 miles per hour (280 km/h).
The storm center of the Category 5 hurricane was about 500 miles (805 km) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Forecasters expect Rick to lose some of its punch as it curves northeast toward southern Baja, California, and then toward mainland Mexico later in the week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Forecast models show that Rick could make landfall on the tip of Baja California by Wednesday morning.
The strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific was Hurricane Linda that reached winds of 185 miles per hour in 1997.
