Bud strengthens to Category 3 hurricane

Hurricane Bud off Mexico's Pacific coast gained strength and become a Category Three storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, the National Hurricane Center said. Bud, which was about 270 kilometers (170 miles) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, was packing sustained winds of nearly 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, the Miami-based NHC said. On the current track, "the center of Bud is forecast to move inland along the Mexican coast by late Friday," the NHC said. While the storm is forecast to weaken overnight Thursday to Friday, Bud "is still expected to reach the coast of Mexico as a hurricane," the NHC said. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion." Bud is expected to drop five to eight inches (20 centimeters) of rain in the Mexican coastal states of Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco and southern Nayarit, "with possible isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches." This rainfall "could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC said. Also, a "dangerous storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding" near and to the east of where the epicenter makes landfall.