Rare Hurricane Sergio sputters in Mexican Pacific

MEXICO CITY, Nov 17 (Reuters) Rare mid-November cyclone Hurricane Sergio sprayed rain on Mexican Pacific Coast beach resorts and backpacker holiday idylls but was seen weakening on its way to tourist hot spots like Los Cabos.

Sergio, which weakened to a Category 1 hurricane yesterday, still carried winds of 80 mph (128 kph) and was maintaining its strength as it moved slowly northward, the US National Hurricane Center said.

But it would likely weaken again long before reaching posh golfing and seaside resorts on the tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula as it hit dry and stable air, the Miami-based forecasters said. Storms as strong as Sergio are rare this late in the hurricane season.

Sergio's center was 455 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 Errol Flynn.

''Sergio is an excellent reminder that the effects of a hurricane can extend far from the center,'' the hurricane center said.

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

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.

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 1 hurricane, Sergio is capable of destroying trailer homes and uprooting trees, and forecasters warned people to be vigilant if it moved closer to land.

Reutes SHB GC1143