Vance intensifies rapidly and could become a major Category 3 hurricane off Mexico's Pacific Coast

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Vance rapidly strengthened into a Category 2 storm Friday as it neared Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

Vance had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph) as it churned about 385 miles (620 kilometers) south-southwest of Acapulco, according to an advisory from the Miami-based hurricane center.

The storm was nearing major hurricane strength, the center said, though gradual weakening was expected to start by Saturday.

The hurricane's outer bands were already funneling gale-force winds and rough seas into Mexico's Gulf of Tehuantepec, the center said.

It’s been an intense hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean, with storms spawning in assembly-line fashion near Hawaii and Mexico as El Niño conditions worsened by global warming create unusual weather, like this week's severe flooding and tornadoes hitting the southwestern United States and the prolonged drought in Central America's Dry Corridor.

Vance would be the seventh major hurricane in a row this year in the Pacific, following Nolo, Odalys, Polo, Rachel, Simon and Trudy. The World Meteorological Organization's Hurricane Committee doesn't use less common names beginning with Q and U.

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This story has been corrected to remove an erroneous reference to storm names beginning with X, Y and Z.

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