Tropical Storm Rick strengthens into hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Rick strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday off Mexico's Pacific coast and is expected to gain force throughout the day, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Rick was moving north-northwest at about 7 miles (11 km) per hour with maximum sustained winds near 80 miles (130 km) per hour and strong gusts. The storm was located 205 miles (335 km) south of the beach city of Zihuatanejo in Guerrero state.