Hurricane Rick churned up Mexico's Pacific coast as a top Category 5 storm today and looked set to hit resorts on the Baja California peninsula by mid-week, the US National Hurricane Center said.
A Category 5 storm ranks at the top of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale and can cause catastrophic damage.
"Interests in southern Baja California and the southwest coast of Mexico should monitor the progress of this extremely dangerous hurricane," the centre said in a statement.
Rick could lose some strength over the next few days but will remain very dangerous, the centre said.
Rick, the seventh hurricane of the eastern north Pacific season, was about 805km (500 miles) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of near 280kph (175 mph) with higher gusts.
The centre projected the hurricane turning toward the Mexican coast on Tuesday, slamming into Baja California on Wednesday morning and then heading into the mainland.
Pacific storms pose no threat to Mexico's large oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico, but the Baja California peninsula is popular with US tourists for its resorts in the Los Cabos area.
Reuters