Hurricane Jimena Path

Hurricane Jimena Path

Hurricane Jimena closes in on Mexico's Baja peninsula An "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Jimena bore down Tuesday on the Mexican peninsula of Baja California, with the resort town of Cabo San Lucas lying in its path. The government of Mexico extended a hurricane warning northward along the west coast of the Baja peninsula to Puerto San Andresito and east to the city of Loreto, the U.S. National Weather Service said in an advisory at 5 a.m. ET Tuesday.

The hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected in the warning area within the next 24 hours, and forecasters predicted Jimena would strike Baja California by Tuesday evening. There were long lines in supermarkets in most cities on the peninsula as people hurriedly bought storm supplies. Early Tuesday, forecasters warned people in that area to act quickly "to protect life and property" because Jimena was packing winds close to 155 mph (250 kph). In addition to damaging winds, the storm could bring as much as 15 inches of rain, forecasters said. Early Tuesday, Jimena was centered about 185 miles (300 kilometers) south of Cabo San Lucas, according to the Hurricane Center. It was traveling northwest near 12 mph.

Jimena is the 10th named storm of the Pacific season and was dangerously close to becoming a Category 5 storm, the most powerful category of hurricane. A resident of Los Cabos, at the very tip of the peninsula, said Monday that people in his town were preparing for the storm and were getting a preview as winds and rain began to pick up. Cuauhtemoc Morgan, who sent videos to to CNN's iReport, said residents had protected every home in his neighborhood, fortifying windows with masking tape. Lines at supermarkets were long with worried residents preparing for the storms, Morgan said.