Tropical Storm Lorena Lashes Parts Of Mexico

MIAMI (AP) – Tropical Storm Lorena is lashing parts of southern Mexico with torrential rains as it drives closer to the coast and nears hurricane force.  Lorena is expected to brush or hit land by  early Thursday somewhere between the port of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s southwestern Pacific coast.  The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Lorena had winds of 70 mph and was moving northwest at 13 mph early Wednesday afternoon.  It was located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south-southeast of Manzanillo.  By week’s end, Lorena is projected to come close to the the Baja California peninsula’s southern tip.  Any rightward movement of the storm’s track could bring it ashore, possibly twice.  Mexican officials also say they’re concerned that some parts of southern Mexico, which have seen a lack of rainfall, could now get torrential rains and floods from a combination of Lorena and two other weather systems in the  area.