MEXICO CITY, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Julio formed off Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday and headed for the Baja California peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm, carrying winds of 40 mph (65 kph), was 250 miles (402 km) south of Baja California. Forecasters predicted the center of the storm could hit land on Tuesday morning. Julio is the 10th named storm of the Pacific hurricane system.

Mexico's government issued a tropical storm warning for Baja California, just below the U.S. border, alerting the coastal states of Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa to prepare for heavy rains.

The Miami-based hurricane center said Julio was unlikely to reach either the northern town of Ensenada where the Sempra liquefied natural gas terminal is scheduled to open next week or the tourist resort of Los Cabos.

The storm is traveling northwest about 12 mph (19 kph), the hurricane center said.

"This general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days," it added.

All Mexico's oil exporting ports remained open on Saturday. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Peter Cooney))

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