Darby, now a Category Three storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, remained far from the southern Mexican coastline. It packed winds close to 120 miles (195 kilometer) per hour, with higher gusts, the Miami-based NHC said in an advisory.

Swirling in open seas just northwest of Darby was Hurricane Celia, which briefly strengthened to Category Five status but continued to weaken. By 2100 GMT, it was still a Category Four storm.

Neither Darby nor Celia pose an immediate threat to any coastline.

"Some slow weakening is expected to begin tomorrow," the NHC said about Darby.

However, Mexico' Weather Service on Friday issued a state of alert for the southern coastal states of Oaxaca, Michoacan and Guerrero as a precaution in case Darby should swing closer to land with its heavy bands of rain.

The eye of Darby was located south of Mexico's southern Pacific some 250 miles (405 km) south-southwest of the tourist resort town of Acapulco, moving toward the west-northwest at around six miles (nine km) per hour, the NHC said.

Celia was packing winds near 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour. It was heading in a west-northwesterly direction, moving at near 12 miles (19 kilometers) per hour, though it was forecast to slow in the next days.

Celia "is approaching cooler sea surface temperatures, and weakening is expected during the next 48 hours," the NHC said.

The other major storm in the Pacific so far this season was Tropical Storm Agatha, which slammed into Guatemala in May, unleashing heavy rains and floods that left some 275 people dead or missing across Central America.

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