HURRICANE DORA GREW stronger offshore on Wednesday as it brought rain to the Mexican coast. The fourth hurricane of the eastern Pacific season was forecast to move parallel to the shoreline for several days.

The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said the storm was centered about 360 kilometres south-southwest of Acapulco and was moving west-northwest at 30 kph with top sustained winds near 130 kph.

Mexican authorities issued a tropical storm watch from Lazaro Cardenas to Cabo Corrientes, meaning tropical storm conditions were possible within 36 hours.

The storm’s proximity to the coast prompted heavy-rain warnings in the Pacific coast states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. Officials also warned of high waves in Oaxaca and Chiapas.

In Guerrero, the government was preparing nearly 900 shelters in flood-prone areas along the coast, which includes the resort city of Acapulco. Boaters were warned to take precautions.

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Bret was forecast to weaken to a tropical depression by Thursday as it moved northeast away from the Bahamas and well off the US Atlantic coast.

Bret’s maximum sustained winds were 85 kph. Its center was about 465 kilometres south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and 920 kilometres west of Bermuda.

- AP