This image provided by NASA taken at 2 a.m. EDT Thursday May 24, 2012 shows Hurricane Bud. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Thursday the storm was packing sustained winds of 75 mph.
Hurricane Bud formed off Mexico's Pacific coast early on Thursday, and could threaten parts of southwestern Mexico with heavy rainfall and flooding on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The first hurricane off the Pacific coast this season, Bud is located about 510 kilometres southwest of the major port of Manzanillo, and is moving north-northeast at around 11 kph, the Miami-based centre said on Thursday.
Bud, a Category 1 hurricane, is producing maximum sustained winds of 150 kph and stronger gusts, but should start to weaken by Friday, the centre said.
A spokesman for the centre said Bud may not make landfall but could still generate hurricane force winds off southwestern Mexico by late on Friday. The hurricane could soak the states of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco and southern Nayarit with around 15 cm of rain, the centre added.
Mexico's government has begun a hurricane watch along the coast from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes, the NHC said.
Mexico has no major oil installations on the Pacific coast.