Hurricane Norma rapidly strengthens on a path toward Los Cabos in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Norma strengthened to a major storm Thursday as it spun off Mexico’s Pacific coast on a path expected to bring it near Los Cabos at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Norma had 130 mph (215 kph) maximum sustained winds and was located about 410 miles (655 kilometers) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas. The Category 4 storm was moving north at 7 mph (11 kph).

Norma was expected to begin weakening Friday and into the weekend as it neared land. It remained unclear if it would make landfall at Los Cabos, made up of the twin resorts of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, or veer off beforehand and hit Mexico’s Sinaloa state to the east.

The southern Baja California Peninsula was under a hurricane watch.