Hurricane Kenneth became a major category three storm off the Pacific coast of Mexico early Tuesday but posed no immediate threat to land, US forecasters said.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said Kenneth, the 10th hurricane of the current season, was packing maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (200 kph).

At 0900 GMT the storm was centered about 710 miles (1,136 kilometers) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, but was moving west and away from the coast at 12 mph.

Kenneth was expected to continue its westward path throughout Tuesday before turning west-northwest and beginning to weaken on Wednesday, the NHC said.