Hurricane Grace’s winds steady at 90 mph with second landfall in Mexico expected Friday night

Hurricane Grace has sustained winds of 90 mph Friday evening, with the storm expected to strengthen further before slamming into the central Mexico coast.

The storm is forecast to reach Category 2 strength with 105 mph winds by the time it hits Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

Air Force Hurricane Hunter flights found the storm had restrengthened after it emerged over the ocean from the Yucatan peninsula. “Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the hurricane center said.

At 5 p.m. the storm was 115 miles northeast of Veracruz, heading west at 10 mph.

Grace made its first landfall before dawn Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane in Tulum, site of an ancient Mayan city that’s a popular day-trip destination for tourists.

The storm tore the roofs off homes and forced residents to spend hours in shelters as the wind howled and knocked out power to thousands, according to the Associated Press. After it passed, most businesses remained closed and streets were littered with branches.

Grace’s hurricane-force winds extend`ed up to 25 miles from the storm’s center with tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 185 miles from the center.

After its second landfall in mainland Mexico, Grace “should quickly weaken and dissipate over the mountains of Mexico by 72 hours, if not sooner,” forecasters said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is monitoring a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic that was several hundred miles off the coast of Africa by 8 p.m. Thursday, moving to the northwest at 5 to 10 mph. It had low chances of forming in the next five days.

Forecasters expect a third hurricane to form this week from Tropical Storm Henri, which will be approaching New England.

Hurricane Elsa, the season’s first hurricane, formed in early July. NOAA’s forecast calls for an above-average season, with seven to 10 hurricanes.