Tropical Storm John Strengthens as It Heads Toward Mexico Again

Tropical Storm John was strengthening over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday and was forecast to become a hurricane and make landfall in Mexico, where it killed at least two people earlier in the week.

The storm was forecast to regain hurricane status before making landfall Thursday night near the southwestern city of Lázaro Cárdenas, the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday. It would be the second time the storm makes landfall in Mexico this week.

A hurricane warning, which means that hurricane conditions were expected within 36 hours, was active from Tecpan de Galeana to Punta San Telmo. A tropical storm warning was active from Punta Maldonado to Tecpan de Galeana, forecasters said.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the center said.

On Monday, the storm intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane, bringing maximum sustained winds of about 120 miles per hour as it struck land. It fell apart over Mexico on Tuesday afternoon, but forecasters warned that flash flooding was possible in south and southwestern Mexico for several more days.

By Tuesday morning, the storm had dumped more than 10 inches of rain on parts of Guerrero and Oaxaca, two of the country’s poorest states, according to local authorities.