Hurricane Patricia Makes Landfall In Mexico

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP/CBS) -- The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Hurricane Patricia has weakened to barely a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph).

The storm made landfall Friday evening on Mexico's Pacific coast as a monstrous Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (270 kph).

But it is rapidly losing steam as it moves over a mountainous region just inland from the shore.

Late Friday, its center was about 50 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, where rain began to fall harder than it had all day but there was still no sign of strong winds.

Thus far, there have been no reports of fatalities or major damage.

The U.S. State Department says tens of thousands of American citizens are believed to be vacationing or living in areas likely to be affected by the storm.

Many of those tourists are stuck in their hotels. One couple riding out the storm in the basement of their resort spoke with CBS 3 Eyewitness News.

"Everybody's been pretty calm. The staff have been coming in fairly regularly updating us on what's going on, and they have been bringing in food, bringing in drinks, snacks, just kind of keeping everybody calm, bringing in pillows and blankets. For the most part everybody is pretty calm."

"My wife has been really worried, and I think the biggest concerns for it were the unknown. We didn't know exactly what's going to go on."

Patricia intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in 24 hours.

Stay with CBSPhilly.com for the latest on this developing story.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)