Hurricane Fausto strengthens into Category 2 storm, expected to approach Hawaiian Islands next week

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Fausto has strengthened into a Category 2 storm in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to approach the Hawaiian Islands next week, forecasters said.

The risk of some impacts from wind and rainfall in the area is increasing, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Friday, but it’s too soon to determine the exact location or potential magnitude.

Fausto was far from land, about 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico and about 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Maximum sustained winds were around 100 mph (161 kph).

The hurricane center said swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides in parts of southern California.

Fausto has been churning in the Pacific while Tropical Storm Bertha moved along the Gulf Coast. Bertha brought heavy surf and some flooding to southern Louisiana and Texas as it came ashore for a second time Thursday. By late that evening, the hurricane center declared Bertha had dissipated.