Hurricane Carlotta strikes coast of southern Mexico

Hurricane Carlotta struck the coast of southern Mexico late Friday packing winds of 90mph.

Carlotta, a Category One hurricane on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, made landfall just northwest of Puerto Escondido, in the western Mexican state of Oaxaca, the U.S.-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.

On its path towards the northwest of the country at nine knots, Carlotta's intensity is expected to dissipate in the next 24 hours before reaching southern California and is then expected to meander back over southern Mexico.

U.S. forecasters have warned of heavy, prolonged rain that "could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."

"Since Carlotta is interacting with the high terrain of Mexico, the maximum sustained winds have decreased," the NHC told AFP. "Additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours."

There were no immediate reports in Oaxaca state of injuries or serious damage.

Mexico's Weather Service warned of "intense to torrential rainfall with electric storms, high waves and hurricane-level wind" in Oaxaca and nearby Guerrero.

The storm is expected to dump three to five inches of rain through Monday over Chiapas, Guerrero and northern Oaxaca, "with six to 10 inches expected over southern Oaxaca."

Carlotta however is not expected to affect a G-20 summit happening in Los Cabos, Mexico, as delegates began gathering for the Monday and Tuesday meetings.