MIAMI, June 17, (AP): A hurricane watch was in effect Tuesday for southern Mexico as a tropical depression in the eastern Pacific gained strength. The depression was likely to become a tropical storm later Tuesday and a hurricane Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (56 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph), forecasters said.

The depression would be named Erick when its winds reach tropical storm strength of 39 mph (63 kph). It was centered about 495 miles (800 kilometers) southeast of Punta Maldonado in Mexico's Guerrero state and was forecast to approach the coast by late Wednesday. A hurricane watch was posted for a stretch of the Pacific coast from Bahia De Huatulco, which is in Oaxaca state, to Punta Maldonado.

A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions, with winds exceeding 74 mph (119 kph), are possible in the area within two days. A tropical storm watch was in effect further south from Salina Cruz to Bahia De Huatulco. Heavy rainfall was forecast for parts of Oaxaca and Guerrero with lighter amounts in Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz states as well as parts of El Salvador and Guatemala.