Hurricane Blanca barreled toward Mexico and its Los Cabos tourist area on the Pacific Saturday as a weakening but still powerful Category Three storm, packing heavy rain and strong winds.

Around 2100 GMT, Blanca was moving northwestward at 17 kilometers (11 miles) per hour, Mexico's National Weather Service reported.

That put Blanca about 510 kilometers (315 miles) south of Cabo San Lucas, currently hosting about 18,000 tourists. Of those, 13,000 are foreign nationals, authorities said.

Blanca's strength rose and dipped throughout the day but by late Saturday was packing powerful sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts.

It was expected to make landfall, possibly as a tropical storm, near Puerto San Carlos, said National Water Board director Roberto Ramirez.

While the storm appeared to be easing in strength on its way to landfall, authorities took significant precautions, sending in 2,000 army troops and 1,300 naval officers, according to Public Safety coordinator Luis Felipe Puente.

The storm could produce up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain over much of Baja California Sur and the southern portion of Baja California state, and up to 38 centimeters in isolated areas over Baja California Sur.

In September, the resort of Los Cabos, with about 240,000 residents and popular with American tourists, suffered the brunt of Hurricane Odile, which left six people dead and caused massive property damage.