Hurricane Simon tracks parallel to Mexico's Pacific coast as Category 3 storm

Hurricane Simon remained just offshore as a Category 3 storm on Sunday, its center swirling parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast rather than making immediate landfall. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that the storm’s most damaging winds and rain were expected to impact the Puerto Vallarta area around midnight and continue through Monday morning.

Storm Intensity and Track

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Simon’s maximum sustained winds weakened to 120 mph on Sunday, though CBS News reported the figure as 115 mph in an update early Monday. The Los Angeles Times reported the winds at 125 mph on Sunday. The storm was moving northwest at about 5 mph. By Sunday afternoon, the storm’s eye was located about 45 miles south of Cabo Corrientes, according to the Associated Press, while CBS News placed it 45 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes early Monday.

Philippe Papin, a senior hurricane center specialist, stated that the westernmost tip of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the system. "We’re expecting catastrophic wind and life-threatening storm surge impacts along that west-central coast of Mexico where the hurricane warning is currently in effect," Papin said. "They’re also getting very heavy rainfall associated with the storm that’s likely going to produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides in areas of higher terrain along the Mexican coastline, and there will be significant swells."

The National Hurricane Center forecasted that Simon would dump an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain, with some areas receiving up to 8 inches, in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa through early Thursday. The center noted that "Isolated maximum storm totals of 30 inches are possible over portions of the states of Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco."

Evacuations and Government Response

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged residents in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to stay sheltered until the government issues a notification that the danger has passed. "Precautionary evacuation efforts to safe zones are ongoing; the priority is our safety," she wrote on the social platform X.

Jalisco state suspended classes on Friday and Monday in 22 coastal municipalities and began evacuating people from at-risk areas. Authorities asked the tourism sector to ensure workers and visitors were fully accommodated in shelters or safe zones. In Puerto Vallarta, National Guard vehicles patrolled streets while police used megaphones to urge people to take shelter. "The boardwalk is closed. Be responsible. Understand!" police told passersby.

Local Impact and Resident Reactions

In Manzanillo, residents waded through flooded streets on Sunday morning as soldiers helped families remove water from their homes. "The beds, the refrigerators, the stoves, all the furniture got wet. The whole house flooded," Cecilia Palomar told Reuters outside her home. "My mother doesn’t want to leave. We took her to my brother’s, to higher ground. She’s an elderly woman, but she doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want to be away from her home."

Hotel worker Víctor Martínez said he could not go to work because public transportation was suspended and most of his hotel had been evacuated. He referenced a Category 5 hurricane that hit the area in 2002. "It happened to us before. It hit us years ago," Martínez said. "People didn’t expect it. We were very skeptical that it would ever hit us. Now, though, we’re different. Precautions are being taken. It happened to us once, and we won’t let it happen again."

Despite warnings, some tourists remained in the area. Visitors Ricardo Ramírez and Brenda Villarreal, who traveled from Guadalajara, said they were unprepared. "We don’t know the extent of the danger yet," Villarreal said. "We’re just starting to see what’s going on."

Why it matters

The storm’s parallel track keeps the threat of direct impact prolonged for coastal communities, particularly those in vulnerable housing uphill from resort areas. The combination of high winds, storm surge, and potential rainfall totals of up to 30 inches in isolated areas poses significant risks of flooding and mudslides in the steep terrain of the Sierra Madre mountains.

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Sources

• nypost.com: Hurricane Simon pounds resorts and vulnerable towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast
• cbsnews.com: Hurricane Simon lashes Mexico's Pacific coast, pounds resorts and vulnerable towns - CBS News
• latimes.com: Hurricane Simon pounds vulnerable towns along Mexico’s Pacific coast - Los Angeles Times
• straitstimes.com: Hurricane Simon weakens to Category 3 as rains flood Mexico's Pacific coast | The Straits Times
• kmph.com: Hurricane Simon and Tropical Storm Rachel will both slam into Mexico Saturday night
• latintimes.com: Hurricane Simón Threatens Puerto Vallarta as Flooding and Mudslides Raise Fears Along Mexico's Pacific Coast

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.