MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A strengthening Tropical Storm Nate marched westwards toward Mexico's Gulf coast on Saturday and was expected to ramp up to near hurricane force for a Sunday landfall, forecasters said.
The government of Mexico issued a hurricane warning from Tuxpan to Veracruz in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. The Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center urged authorities and residents in the warning area to take steps to protect life and property.
"Some additional strengthening is forecast in the next 24 hours ... and Nate is expected to be near hurricane intensity when it makes landfall on Sunday," the center said.
The oil-exporting ports of Cayo Arcas and Dos Bocas remained closed to shipping and other smaller ports were also shut in the southwest Gulf of Mexico.
State oil company Pemex evacuated 473 workers from five sea platforms as a precaution. Nate had cut Mexican oil production by 178,800 barrels a day as of Friday.
Local media reported a fisherman drowned on Friday after strong surf capsized his little boat in the Bay of Campeche area and 10 oil industry contractors were missing after they had evacuated a rig in the same area.
At 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT), Nate was carrying maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (100 km per hour) and its center was about 115 miles east-northeast of the port of Veracruz, the hurricane center said.
To the east, Caribbean islands that were lashed by Hurricane Irene last month looked set to be spared any major impact from Tropical Storm Maria,
Maria, carrying winds of 45 mph, was moving northwestwards near the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.
The hurricane center said strong winds from Maria would remain well north of the islands and tropical storm warnings and watches were discontinued earlier.
While it could still regain tropical storm strength in a day or so, Maria was forecast to bypass Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Bahamas in the next three days.
Longer-range forecasts saw the storm veering northwards from Wednesday on a path that appeared to keep it out to sea and away from the U.S. East Coast, but forecasters caution that predictions beyond three days are subject to wide error.
Far to the north in the Atlantic, Hurricane Katia, which had avoided the U.S. East Coast, lost its tropical characteristics and raced notheastwards. It was expected to bring gale force winds to northern parts of the British Isles on Monday.
(Reporting by Cyntia Barrera in Mexico City and Pascal Fletcher in Miami; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
