Hurricane Lane strengthens to Category 3 as it bears down on Mexic

Updated at 4.05pm

MEXICO CITY: Hurricane Lane strengthened further early Saturday, becoming a major Category Three storm as it bore down on the Gulf of California and forced local officials to warn of rains, floods and mudslides.    

At 0900 GMT, Lane packed sustained winds of 185 kilometres an hour with higher gusts, said the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.              

"Lane is now a dangerous Category Three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale," the center warned in a statement.

"Some additional strengthening is possible prior to Lane making landfall."              

Mexico's interior ministry warned of heavy rains, intense winds and threats of flooding and mudslides.       

"Recreation and fishing should be suspended in the area," the Mexican statement said.      

The Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit on Mexico's west coast were expected to feel the brunt of Lane, and to a lesser degree Sinaloa and Baja California Sur.     

The eye of the hurricane was now located 85 kilometres southwest of the town of Mazatlan and 300 kilometres east-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, on the tip of the peninsula, the US service said.      

Lane is expected to head up the gulf at 17 kilometres per hour and make landfall later Saturday.   

At 0945 GMT, the Mexican government extended a hurricane warning along the Pacific Coast of the country northward from Altata to Topolobampo, the US center reported.      

It meant the warning was now in effect on Mexico's Pacific Coast from the town of El Roblito to Topolobampo, and hurricane conditions were expected in the area within 24 hours.                

"Preparations to protect life and property should be pushed to completion," the US center warned.