Hurricane Douglas reaches category 3 on its way to Hawaii

Hurricane Douglas, the first of the Pacific season, gained strength in the last hours to reach category 3 as it continues its route to Hawaii, where it could impact in a few days, reported Thursday the National Meteorological Service of Mexico.

Hurricane Douglas, the first of the Pacific season, gained strength in the last hours to reach category 3 as it continues its route to Hawaii, where it could impact in a few days, reported Thursday the National Meteorological Service of Mexico.

"Douglas remains a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson scale, located west-southwest of Baja California Sur, far from the Mexican coast," the Meteorological Service said in its latest report.

According to the 10:00 local time report (15:00 GMT), the weather phenomenon is 2,680 kilometers from Punta Eugenia, in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California Sur.

The cyclone is moving west-northwest at 31 kilometers per hour and records sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour and gusts of 240 kilometers per hour.

It is "far from the Mexican coast," said the National Meteorological Service , which has not yet issued recommendations to the population or to navigation.

Douglas formed a tropical depression on Monday and became the first hurricane of 2020 in the Pacific on Wednesday. In the early hours of this Thursday, its power increased to category 3. The cyclone has gradually moved away from the coast without leaving any prominent rains in the Mexican Pacific.

Although the cyclone has not caused any damage in Mexico, due to the path it is following, it cannot be ruled out that it will hit Hawaii as a category 1 hurricane as of Sunday, July 26.

If it doesn't change course, it will cross Hawaii between next Sunday and Monday, losing strength as it advances. Douglas is the fourth phenomenon of the hurricane season in the Pacific after Amanda, Boris, and Cristina. None has caused heavy rainfall in Mexico, although on the Atlantic side, Cristobal did leave flooding in the southeast of the country.

In the 2019 season, there were 33 such events, 19 on the Pacific and 14 on the Atlantic, according to the National Meteorological Service. The tropical cyclone season begins each year on May 15 in the Pacific and on June 1 in the Atlantic, ending for both areas on November 30.