MEXICO CITY, Oct 9, 2011 (AFP) - Hurricane Jova grew to a category two storm Sunday as it roiled the sea in the eastern Pacific, US meteorologists said, as the system remained on course to make landfall on the central-southwestern Mexican coast in the coming days. The Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said in a 0300 GMT bulletin that Jova was now packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour). It had strengthened to a category two storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, prompting Mexican authorities to issue hurricane alerts for large swaths of the Pacific coastline, with the system some 260 miles (420 km) from the port city of Manzanillo.
Officials here warned five states along the west coast to be on guard for possible landslides from heavy rain expected to be dumped by the ninth Pacific hurricane of the season. The NHC forecast Jova's eye would be nearing the Mexican coastline by Tuesday. Jova was forecast to become a major Category 3 hurricane on Monday with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour) but expected to weaken significantly ahead of landfall, US meteorologists said. Several major storms or hurricanes have buffeted Mexico's Pacific coast in recent months but most have remained offshore. The season's first named storm, Arlene, left at least 16 people dead and drenched much of the country in July. Tropical storms and hurricanes last year caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico that killed 125 people, left hundreds of thousands homeless and caused more than $4 billion in damage.
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