Hurricane Linda strengthens off Mexico's Pacific coast

Hurricane Linda strengthened to a Category 2 storm off the northwest Mexican coast Monday as it packed winds of up to 155 kilometers per hour, forecasters said.

Linda was located 635 kilometers to the south-southwest of the resort of Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula at 1500 GMT, the National Weather Service said.

Moving to the northwest at 22 kilometers per hour, it was packing maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 195 kilometers per hour, according to the NWS, making it a Category 2 storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Authorities warned that the hurricane -- upgraded from a tropical storm Sunday -- could cause very heavy downpours in the states of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco and urged the local population to exercise caution.