Karina is rapidly strengthening into a major hurricane in the Pacific, but is moving away from Mexico and California

Hurricane Karina rapidly intensified over the Pacific and reached Category 3 status on Sunday night, although its projected path keeps it away from the coasts of Mexico and the United States.

According to the most recent advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Karina has maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour—about 205 kilometers per hour—and a minimum central pressure of 954 millibars.

The hurricane's center was located approximately 960 miles—1,545 kilometers—west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. The system was moving westward at about nine miles per hour—15 kilometers per hour—into the open waters of the Pacific.

No direct threat to California

The possible formation of a hurricane relatively close to Southern California sparked concern over the weekend. However, the latest scenario is less alarming for coastal areas: Karina has already become a hurricane, but it did so far from land and is moving in the opposite direction from Mexico and the United States.

The NHC has not issued any coastal alerts or advisories, and, for the time being, does not anticipate a direct impact on California or the Baja California Peninsula.

Even so, the storm is generating large swells that could reach parts of the coastline of southwestern Mexico and Baja California. These conditions could lead to dangerous waves and potentially deadly rip currents, according to the NHC and reports from PBS NewsHour and The Independent.

Forecasts indicate that Karina will continue moving westward and then west-northwestward. It could maintain considerable intensity over the next few hours before gradually weakening as it moves over cooler waters and encounters less favorable atmospheric conditions.

The remnants of Dolly are crossing the Caribbean

While Karina moves across the Pacific, meteorologists are also tracking the remnants of Tropical Storm Dolly in the Atlantic.

Dolly lost its closed circulation on Friday and ceased to be a tropical storm. However, its remnants continue to produce rain and thunderstorms from Puerto Rico toward the Virgin Islands as they move toward Hispaniola and eastern Cuba.

The National Hurricane Center estimates a probability of nearly 0% of re-intensification over the next 48 hours and about 20% over the next seven days, once the system reaches potentially more favorable conditions near the Gulf of Mexico or the western Atlantic.

Although immediate intensification is unlikely, the associated moisture could cause heavy downpours, wind gusts, and flash flooding in mountainous areas of the Caribbean. The Weather Channel warns that there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding a possible reorganization of the system by the end of the week.