Hurricane Grace gathers strength, barrels toward Mexico's Gulf coast

Hurricane Grace rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on Friday night as it barrelled towards Mexico's Gulf coast, threatening to lash the oil-producing state of Veracruz and central Mexico with strong winds and heavy rains.

Hurricane Grace rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on Friday night as it barrelled towards Mexico's Gulf coast, threatening to lash the oil-producing state of Veracruz and central Mexico with strong winds and heavy rains. By Friday night, Grace was blowing maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 km per hour), with higher gusts, making it "a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.