Hurricane Sandra weakens slightly to Category 3 storm

After reports that the village of Rebalse, Jalisco state, Mexico was flooded, a convoy of soldiers trying to reach the site is forced to turn back by muddy roads outside Cihuatlan on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. The soldiers were later able to access the village on another badly damaged road as they drove past devastated banana fields. Hurricane Patricia made landfall in Mexico as a Category 5 storm with winds up to 200 mph (320 kph), but the most powerful hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere caused relatively little destruction. AP FILE PHOTO

MIAMI — Hurricane Sandra has weakened slightly but is still a powerful Category 3 storm in the eastern Pacific off Mexico’s coast.

The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds Thursday afternoon were 120 mph (195 kph). The US National Hurricane Center says rapid weakening is expected: Sandra is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm Friday night and become a remnant low on Saturday.

READ: Sandra becomes Category 3 hurricane in eastern Pacific

Sandra is centered about 380 miles (610 kilometers) south of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and is moving north near 12 mph (19 kph).

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the Baja California peninsula from Todos Santos to Los Barriles.