Mexico City (ANTARA News) - Hurricane Dora strengthened in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico on Wednesday and may become a major storm later in the day as it moves parallel to the coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Dora, the fourth named storm of the Pacific hurricane season, had top sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was 225 miles (360 km) south-southwest of the resort town of Acapulco, the Miami-based hurricane center said in its 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) advisory.

Dora was moving west-northwest near 18 mph (30 kph) and was set to brush the tip of the Baja California peninsula by Saturday.

"The center of Dora is expected to move nearly parallel to the coast of southwestern Mexico over the next couple of days," the hurricane center said.

Dora was a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity and "could become a major hurricane by Wednesday," forecasters said.

Mexico has no major oil installations on its Pacific coast, but sugar- and coffee-growing cropland could be soaked by the storm, Reuters reported.

(SYS/H-RN)

Editor: Suryanto
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