Marie has weakened to a tropical storm, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Wednesday. ADVERTISING Marie has weakened to a tropical storm, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Wednesday. At 11 a.m. Hawaii time on Wednesday, Marie was packing maximum sustained winds
Marie has weakened to a tropical storm, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Wednesday.
At 11 a.m. Hawaii time on Wednesday, Marie was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 mph winds and was moving toward the west-northwest at 15 mph, forecasters said. The storm was located about 960 miles west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.
Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles from the center of Marie.
Surf from the 13th named storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season continues to affect portions of the south-central and southwestern coast of Mexico and Southern California shores. The swells generated by the storm will likely cause life-threatening surf and rip currents along affected coasts through at least Thursday. Southern California shores can expect 10- to 15-foot waves with Los Angeles and Ventura counties seeing the highest surf.
Forecasters expect Marie to steadily weaken during the next 48 hours as the tropical storm moves over cooler water. Marie should be downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Thursday.
National Hurricane Center officials in May predicted 14 to 20 named storms and seven to 11 hurricanes — including three to six major hurricanes — to form this year in the Eastern Pacific Basin. Overall, they gave the 2014 season a 50 percent chance of being above normal, 40 percent chance of being near-normal and a 10 percent chance of being below normal.
The Eastern Pacific averages 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes each year, according to the center.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season began May 15 and ends Nov. 30.
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