Hawaiians advised to monitor powerful Hurricane Hector

MIAMI - Two tropical storms formed in the Pacific Ocean off southwestern Mexico, but neither posed any immediate threat to land as they took tracks predicted to move parallel to the coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm John was expected to strengthen rapidly and become a hurricane by Monday night or Tuesday. Tropical Storm Ileana was trailing John to the southeast but wasn't forecast to reach hurricane force.

Farther out to sea, a strengthening Hurricane Hector headed for the central Pacific as a Category 4 storm, with winds of 140 mph, the hurricane center reported. It was centered about 1,130 miles east-southeast of South Point, Hawaii, and was moving west at 14 mph.

Forecasters don't expect a direct hit on the Big Island, but warned that residents should be prepared for bad weather.

"While the official forecast track continues to lie to the south of the Hawaiian islands, only a slight deviation to the north of the forecast track would significantly increase potential impacts to the state of Hawaii," the forecast stated.  "Now is a good time for everyone in the Hawaiian Islands to ensure that they have their hurricane plan in place."

LINK: Central Pacific Hurricane Center's Hector maps

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.