Agatha, the first hurricane of the eastern Pacific season formed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast Sunday and rapidly gained power ahead of an expected strike along a stretch of tourist beaches and fishing towns as a major storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Agatha was expected to make landfall as a powerful Category 3 hurricane Monday afternoon or evening in the area near Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel in the southern state of Oaxaca — a region that includes the laid-back tourist resorts of Huatulco, Mazunte and Zipolite.

The center warned that the hurricane could deliver a dangerous storm surge.

By late Sunday, the recently formed hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) — just 1 mph under the threshold for a Category 3, the hurricane center said. Agatha was centered about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Puerto Angel and heading to the northeast at 6 mph (9 kph).

In addition to storm surge, heavy rains from Agatha will hit portions of southern Mexico by Sunday into Tuesday night.

"The heaviest rain is forecast across the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where 10 to 16 inches are expected but isolated totals up to 20 inches is possible," the hurricane center said.

After crossing land, the remnant low of a dissipated Agatha could reemerge into the southern Gulf of Mexico by the middle of this week.

The National Hurricane Center has highlighted a 30% chance of development over the next five days across the region.
-AP/CNN