Mexico issued a tropical storm watch on Saturday for parts of the southern Baja California where a weakening Ivo is expected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday, AP quoted the U.S. National Hurricane Center as saying. The watch area covered a stretch of about 100 miles (160 kms) of Pacific coast on the extreme southern tip of the Baja peninsula. Tropical storm Ivo had sustained winds of about 55 mph (88 kph) and was slowly chugging northeast, heading toward a sparsely populated stretch of Pacific coast nearly opposite the California Gulf port city of La Paz. Ivo could fall below minimal tropical storm-force winds of about 39 mph (62 kph) by the time it makes landfall, and forecasters predicted it would be a depression by the time it crosses over the peninsula, passes near La Paz and enters the Gulf of California. Forecasters predicted it would then dissipate several days later. Authorities began preparing storm shelters for residents of low-lying areas that could be affected by rains or flooding. The closest town to the projected landfall area appeared to be Todos Santos, said Francisco Cota Marquez, civil defense director of the municipality of Cabo San Lucas, to the south. The Interior Department said in a statement the storm could still be strong enough to cause mudslides or minor flash flooding in some areas. The area was hit Sept. 4 by Hurricane Henriette, which killed 10 people, including two Japanese tourists, and destroyed about 2,000 homes.
