See Path, Spaghetti Models of the Storm

Hurricane Kristy strengthened again into a Category 5 storm on Thursday and is expected to fluctuate in strength throughout the night, with rapid weakening on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday afternoon.

As of Thursday afternoon, Kristy was about 970 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja, California, and continuing to move west. The hurricane center said west to west-northwest movement is forecast through Thursday night and slower northwest to north-northwest movement is expected through late Friday.

Kristy had maximum sustained winds of about 160 mph with stronger gusts Thursday afternoon, the NHC said. The storm is expected to weaken quickly starting Thursday night or Friday.

The storm was expected to continue moving over open waters, however waves generated by Kristy will impact portions of the west coast of the Baja Peninsula, California later this weekk and over the weekend, the hurricane center said. These waves would “likely result in life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” they said.