Hurricane Gil continues to churn far out in the eastern Pacific

MEXICO CITY AP Hurricane Gil was continuing to churn in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday but is not expected to threaten land and is likely to decrease in strength rapidly over the weekend forecasters disclosed The Miami-based U S National Hurricane Center explained the storm was about miles kilometers west-southwest of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico Gil had maximum sustained winds of mph kph and was moving west-northwest at mph kph No coastal watches or warnings were in effect Weakening is forecast to begin Saturday and Gil is likely to become post-tropical as early as Sunday the NHC announced It is a busy period for storms in the eastern Pacific Another named storm Iona which also was once a hurricane was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression as it moved far to the west of Hawaii It too was not threatening land Other storms could develop in the coming days in the eastern Pacific forecasters stated