The latest storm news from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that storm Carlotta - storm number 3 in the Pacific - is about 950km west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja, California, USA. The storm is moving west at a speed of 23km/h.
NHC's latest storm forecast indicates that by the evening of August 3, storm Carlotta is expected to shift to the west-northwest.
Storm Carlotta's maximum winds have increased to nearly 140km/h, with stronger gusts forecast to increase this weekend then weaken early next week.
The area affected by hurricane-level winds in Typhoon Carlotta is up to 16km wide from the center, while tropical storm-level winds have a range of nearly 130km.
Typhoon Carlotta strengthened into a hurricane on the night of August 2 and early morning of August 3 in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
At 5:00 a.m. on August 3, Hawaii time, the center of Hurricane Carlotta was about 700km southwest of the southern tip of Baja, California.
Storm forecasters say that storm Carlotta will continue to strengthen on August 4 and maintain strong intensity.
It is expected that storm Carlotta will weaken into a tropical depression early next week as it approaches the central Pacific Ocean.
Accordingly, within a day, storm Carlotta will pass through colder ocean waters and begin to weaken. It is expected that on the night of August 4 or the morning of August 5, wind shear will increase significantly, causing storm No. 3 in the Pacific to gradually downgrade.
