MEXICO CITY – The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Hurricane Hernan has strengthened far off Mexico's Pacific coast into a Category 2 storm.

The center says the fifth hurricane of the eastern Pacific season poses no threat to land. But Miami-based forecasters reported Hernan's top sustained winds were close to 100 mph early Saturday. That was up from 90 mph a day earlier when Hernan formed as a Category 1 hurricane.

Hernan was centered about 970 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula and moving west-northwest, farther out to sea.

The hurricane center says Hernan is expected to begin weakening in the next 24 hours as it heads toward cooler Pacific waters.