Hurricane Fausto grows to Category 2 storm

MIAMI - Hurricane Fausto has increased to a category 2 storm in the Pacific while Tropical Storm Dolly moves over Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and heads for the Gulf of Mexico.

Though Hurricane Fausto has increased in strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm has probably reached its peak intensity and is expected to weaken during the next 24 hours.

Fausto's maximum sustained winds are near 160 kilometres per hour and the storm's center is 651 kilometres west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dolly is expected to strengthen as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico and could become a hurricane on Tuesday.

Its winds are near 80 kilometres per hour.

Also in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Cristobal continues to move northeast, away from the U.S. coast.

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  This infrared Environment Canada satellite image, from data provided by the NOAA, shows hurricane Fausto and tropical storm Dolly on Monday, July 21, 2008.