MEXICO CITY – Tropical Storm Elida moved farther away from Mexico's Pacific coast Sunday afternoon but it could still become a hurricane later this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Earlier Sunday, the Miami-based center had said Elida could become a hurricane Monday morning.

The fifth tropical storm of the 2008 season was located 245 miles south-southwest of the tourist city and port of Manzanillo and some 585 miles south-southeast of the tip of the Baja California peninsula.

The storm's maximum sustained winds remained at 65 mph with higher gusts. Elida was moving away from land in a west-northwest direction at about 14 mph.

“Elida could still become a hurricane before it reaches cooler waters in a couple days,” the NHC said.

Mexico's national weather service issued a heavy rain and high surf warning for the states of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacan and said the storm could pose a moderate risk to their coasts.

Skies were cloudy in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta, among Mexico's top Pacific beach resorts, with waves of around 3 feet, according to the government's latest port data.

(Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)