Rains from rare Hurricane Sergio splash Acapulco

MEXICO CITY, Nov 16 (Reuters) Rare mid-November cyclone Hurricane Sergio sprayed rain on the Mexican resort city of Acapulco TOday, but forecasters said the storm was likely to lose power before hitting tourist hot spots like Los Cabos.

A Category 2 hurricane, Sergio carried winds of 157 kph and was moving slowly northwards, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Sergio could keep its current intensity until Friday but would likely lose steam after that as stronger winds in the upper atmosphere disrupted the storm, the Miami-based forecasters said.

The center of the storm was 555 km off the coast of Acapulco, Mexican forecasters said, but it brought rain to the once glamorous resort city, made famous in the 1950s by Hollywood stars like swashbuckler Errol Flynn.

Sergio was moving slowly up the Pacific coast and was on track to hit the resort towns of Los Cabos, tourist destinations on the Baja California peninsula fashionable among Americans, as a weaker tropical storm early next weak.

''Right now, our four to five day view still has the southern tip of Baja and Los Cabos in the area,'' said National Hurricane Center expert Michelle Mainelli. ''However by the time its up there we are anticipating it to be more of a tropical storm.'' Three hurricanes forecast to hit the Los Cabos resort towns earlier this year veered away at the last minute.

Mexico's Pacific coast has been blitzed with hurricanes and storms this year, while its Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico coasts have seen little activity.

The eastern Pacific has not seen a storm as strong as Sergio so late in the season since officials began keeping records.

Mainelli said the busier Pacific storm season, and the less active Atlantic season, were partly a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

In October, Hurricane Paul killed three people in northwestern Mexico. In September, Hurricane Lane took three lives along the Pacific coast and Hurricane John killed at least three people in Baja California.

As a Category 2 hurricane, Sergio is capable of destroying trailer homes and uprooting trees, and forecasters warned people to be vigilant if it moves closer to land.

''Mexico stay tuned,'' the US center said. ''There is some uncertainty in the forecast and a track closer to the coast is still possible.'' REUTERS PDS PM0040