Mexico City, Sep 7 (AP) Hurricane Kay gained strength in the Pacific Wednesday and began lashing Mexico's Baja California Peninsula with rain.

Kay's maximum sustained winds rose to 100 mph (155 kph), with forecasters saying it could brush the mid portion of the peninsula later this week.

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The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Kay was centred about 220 miles (355 kilometres) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja peninsula.

Kay was moving north-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

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A hurricane warning was issued for a sparsely populated stretch of the peninsula around Bahia Asuncion. Forecasters expected Kay to stay offshore as it moves more northward, roughly parallel to the coast.

In the Atlantic, Hurricane Earl strengthened northeast of Puerto Rico after dropping heavy rain across the Leeward Islands, the US and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Earl was located about 485 miles (775 kilometres) south of Bermuda on Wednesday and was heading north at 6 mph (9 kph).

Earl had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (135 kph) and was expected to grow into a major hurricane later this week while turning toward the open Atlantic.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Danielle was kicking up high seas far out over the Atlantic — some 690 miles (1,110 kilometres) west-northwest of the Azores.

It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph). (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)