Raymond a hurricane off Mexico in Pacific: official

Tropical storm Raymond surged to hurricane force Sunday churning toward Mexico's Pacific coast, which is still recovering from a devastating tropical storm last month.

Raymond "has strengthened to a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale south of the coasts of Guerrero and Michoacan" states, Mexico's National Weather Service said.

The storm could continue to strengthen as it heads closer to shore, the service warned.

Raymond was packing sustained winds of 75 miles an hour (120 kmh), about 155 miles (245 kilometers) west-southwest of Acapulco. It was headed north at 6 mph (9 kmh), the US National Hurricane Center said at 0001 GMT Monday.

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