MEXICO CITY (AP) — Newly formed Tropical Storm Orlene strengthened in the eastern Pacific, and forecasters expected it to become a hurricane by Friday evening while heading for a projected landfall on the Mexican coast early next week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Orlene had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) late Thursday. It was centered about 285 miles (455 kilometers) southwest of the port of Manzanillo and was moving west-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph).

The current projected path pointed to the storm making landfall in Sinaloa state by Monday night.