MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Norma strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday as it neared peak strength over the Pacific, though it was forecast to weaken before reaching the coast of popular tourist resorts on Mexico's Baja California peninsula.
"The hurricane is likely near its peak intensity, although some small fluctuations cannot be ruled out today," the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, with Norma still some 245 miles (394 km) away from the port city Manzanillo.
The forecaster said Norma would likely begin weakening from Friday through the weekend, and approach land from late Friday.
Norma is packing maximum winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kmh), the NHC said in its latest bulletin, as the storm moved north at some 7 mph (11 kmh) and could bring hurricane conditions to southern parts of Baja California by Saturday.
The storm could also bring up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain in parts of Baja California, possibly causing flooding and landslides, it added, while strong swells could bring life-threatening surf to parts of the western coastline.
Baja California is home to the Los Cabos beach resorts.
In the Atlantic, the NHC forecast tropical storm conditions across parts of the Lesser Antilles from Friday as Tropical Storm Tammy heads west at 15 mph (24 km), nearing the Leeward Islands "at or near hurricane intensity".
Tammy is expected to bring rains as far as the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend, and the forecaster issued a hurricane watch for Guadeloupe.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland and Raul Cortes; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Alistair Bell)
