MEXICO CITY -- Hurricane Gil was continuing to churn in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday but is not expected to threaten land and is likely to decrease in strength rapidly over the weekend, forecasters said.

Hurricane Gil was classified as a storm but it has been upgraded - and, as it has now formed in the eastern Pacific, forecasters say it could reach California in the US as soon as today

A tropical storm strengthened into Hurricane Gil on Friday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center.