Hurricane Odile strengthening off Mexican coast

MEXICO CITY - Hurricane Odile gained strength Saturday as it spun northwestward staying out at sea while moving parallel to Mexico's Pacific coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Odile's maximum sustained winds had increased to 90 mph by Saturday afternoon. Its center was about 475 miles south-southeast of the southern tip of Baja California and moving to the northwest at 6 mph.

Center forecasters said Odile's movement to the northwest was expected to continue over the next few days. On its current track, the core of Odile would remain well offshore Saturday night then pass near or southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday night.

Mexican officials alerted residents along both coasts of the peninsula's southern end to prepare for possible tropical storm or hurricane effects.

Far out in the eastern Atlantic, Tropical Storm Edouard also gained strength and the U.S. center said it could become a hurricane by late Sunday although it posed no threat to land.

The center said Edouard had sustained winds of 60 mph. It was centered 1,050 miles (1,695 kilometers) east of the northern Leeward Islands and moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).