Tropical Storm Pilar skirts Mexico coast with rain and wind

Mexico City: Tropical Storm Pilar is moving northward in the Pacific just off Mexico's western shore, raking coastal areas with rain and high winds after passing close to the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.

Pilar had maximum sustained winds of 65 kph last night and its centre was about 155 kilometres south of Mazatlan. It was moving north at about 13 kph.

The storm was projected to stay close to land over the next few days while dropping rain on Nayarit and Sinaloa states while beginning to weaken. Tropical storm force winds extended out as far as 95 kilometres.

The US National Hurricane Centre said Pilar could to drop 3 to 7 inches of rain on coastal areas.

In the Atlantic, two hurricanes were far off the US East Coast and didn't pose any major threat to land, though Hurricane Maria was expected to whip up heavy surf and swells for the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states.

Maria, which battered Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane last week, was down to a Category 2 storm and its maximum sustained winds had weakened to 150 kph late yesterday. It was moving north at 13 kph.

Its centre was about 625 kilometres south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Farther out at sea, Hurricane Lee had maximum sustained winds of 150 kph.

It was about 1,450 kilometres east of Bermuda and was moving to the east-southeast at 6 kph.

It was projected to move in a rough circle over the coming days.