Tropical storm Enrique misses direct hit on Baja resorts

CABO SAN LUCAS

:

Tropical Storm Enrique

swirled to the east of the tip of

Mexico

's Baja

California

Peninsula, missing a direct hit on the beach resorts there amid predictions it would to weaken into a tropical depression sometime Wednesday.

Enrique's maximum sustained winds were down to 40 mph (65 kph) late Tuesday, just barely a tropical storm, the US National Hurricane Center said. The storm's core was about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of

Baja

and moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

Mexican officials in Baja California Sur state had closed the ports of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo to smaller boats as well the ports of Los Barriles and La Paz, while city officials in Los Cabos prepared to open shelters in case of flooding. Forecasters said the storm could drop 1 to 2 inches of rain in the state, with localized amounts of as much as 4 inches.

Enrique became the Pacific season's first hurricane Saturday, but it stayed at sea while brushing past the Cabo Corrientes bulge on Mexico's southwestern coast Sunday night and then heading for Baja California.