U.S. forecasters reported to the AFP on Thursday that Tropical Storm Patricia was upgraded to a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center located in Miami is warning residents in the area to prepare.
Hurricane Patricia is expected to make landfall on Friday, bringing damaging winds around 100 miles per hour and flash flooding to the area.
The Weather Channel reports, as of 10:00 a.m. CDT, Hurricane Patricia was 240 miles south-southwest of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico and 285 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. The storm is moving at a speed of 26 kilometers per hour and is heading west-northwest according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Mexican coastal area between Cabo Corrientes and Punta San Telmo has been issued a hurricane warning, and surrounding areas have been issued a hurricane watch, tropical storm watch, and tropical storm warning.
Forecasters told AFP that Hurricane Patricia is expected to accumulate 6 to 12 inches of rain and some isolated incidents may see up to 20 inches of rain.