NU Online News Service, Aug. 31, 1:46 p.m. EDT

Tropical storm Danny never reached hurricane status over the weekend, but in the Pacific Hurricane Jimena is gearing up to become a major hurricane and make a rare land strike on the Baja Peninsula this week.

The National Hurricane Center said the government of Mexico has issued a hurricane warning for the Baja California Peninsula, which means hurricane conditions are possible over the next two days.

The NHC said Jimena is a very dangerous Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds near 145 mph. The storm is expected to hit the Baja Peninsula by Tuesday, the service said.

Guy Carpenter's CAT-i report noted that portions of Mexico have already experienced intense flooding, rainfall and landslides in some mountain areas. Emergency shelter preparations are underway for 10,000 families that would be evacuated from potential flood zones in Cabo San Lucas.

A conference of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to be held in the resort town could be affected, the report noted.

Where the storm may make landfall is sparsely populated, primarily consisting of small fishing villages. Mexico has no oil installations in the Pacific, the report added.

Risk Management Solutions said that while the storm is expected to gain more strength over the next day, it should weaken over the next 48 hours to a Category 3 status (sustained winds between 111-130 mph).

AIR Worldwide said it estimates that the commercial replacement value for the Los Cabos area to be near $27 billion. Sustained winds above 110 mph could damage commercial structures resulting in significant business interruption loss.

The NHC forecasts the storm will become a tropical storm by Thursday.

Weather Underground's Jeff Masters said in his blog (www.wunderground.com) the storm could eventually find its way into Arizona later this week, bringing flooding rains.

Tropical storm Danny never materialized into a hurricane over the weekend and fizzled out off the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday, NHS said.

Special Reports /

Danny Fizzles; Jimena Picks Up Steam Off Baja

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