Officials readied storm shelters along Mexico's Caribbean coast yesterday and told fishermen and tour operators to pull in their boats as Ida strengthened into a hurricane as it neared the resort city of Cancun.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ida's winds had picked up to 75 mph, making it a Category 1 storm.

The hurricane was on a path that would take it through the middle of the Yucatan Channel that separates Mexico and Cuba today. Forecasters predict Ida will enter the Gulf of Mexico, eventually weaken again to tropical storm strength and possibly brush the U.S. Gulf Coast this week.

Tropical-storm warnings were issued for the Mexican coastline from Punta Allen, south of Tulum, to San Felipe at the top of the Yucatan Peninsula, an area that includes Cancun. The warnings were also in effect for western Cuba and Grand Cayman Island.

A hurricane watch was in effect from Tulum to Cabo Catoche.

As rain began pelting down in Cancun, the beaches were empty.

Authorities started up a reporting system used to locate tourists and plan potential evacuations or shelters. Quintana Roo state Tourism Director Sara Latife Ruiz said there were about 36,000 foreign and Mexican tourists in Cancun.

Late last night, Ida was centered about 120 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, and moving northwest at about 12 mph.

John Cangialosi, a specialist at the Hurricane Center, said that as Ida heads north across the Gulf of Mexico, it is expected to meet a cold front that is moving south -- making longer-term forecasts complicated for now.

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