Weakening Bud expected to hit southern Baja soon

Hurricane Bud weakened rapidly off Mexico’s Pacific coast Tuesday as forecasters said they expected cooler waters to rob the storm of most of its punch before it reached the resorts at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula later in the week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Bud was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and was centered about 310 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas at the peninsula’s southern tip.

Earlier it had just barely crossed the threshold of wind strength to be classified a Category 4 storm.

Bud was moving northwest at about 3 mph and was forecast to approach Baja California Sur on Thursday as a tropical storm.