Hurricane Cristina, the second hurricane of the 2014 Eastern Pacific hurricane season, has formed off Mexico's Pacific coast.

According to The Weather Channel, Hurricane Cristina will continue to strengthen and churn to the west of the coast of Mexico.

Cristina started off as a Tropical Depression Three-E Monday afternoon, about 160 miles south of the city Zihuantanejo in Mexico. However, within six hours the National Hurricane Center upgraded it to a tropical storm and named it Cristina.

Now forecasters predict that it would develop into a hurricane later on this week.

By Wednesday, the tropical storm strengthened into a category 1 hurricane as it moved away from Mexico's Pacific coast, prompting authorities to warn of heavy rains in the region. The hurricane's maximum sustained winds early Wednesday were around 75 mph, while the U.S. National Hurricane Center predicts that it will strengthen even more over the next two days.

Cristina is located about 265 miles south of the port Manzanillo, and is moving west near 6 mph. Because swells generated by Cristina are affecting parts of Mexico's south central and southwestern coast, the Hurricane Center says this could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Although the hurricane is expected to gain strength, it is unlikely to make landfall. Still, Cristina is close enough to land to have some effect on Mexico. For instance, the circulation around Cristina is bringing moist air onshore and wringing it out in the form of some locally heavy rain from portions of Mexico's Pacific coast alway the way into Mexico City.

Officials in Mexico warned of rising rivers and mudslides caused in southern and western Mexican states including Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco.

Plus, Cristina could cause waves of up to four meters high in coastal areas, according to a statement released by the National Weather Service.