Category 4 Hurricane Simon Nears Mexico’s Pacific Coast; Landfall Expected Sunday

Hurricane Simon strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Saturday, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast it to strike the west-central coast as a major hurricane on Sunday, bringing destructive winds, dangerous storm surge and potentially catastrophic flooding.

The hurricane center said Simon was centered about 115 miles (185 km) south-southwest of Manzanillo on Saturday morning, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph) as it moved northward. Forecasters said some additional strengthening remains possible before landfall.

A hurricane warning was in effect for portions of Mexico’s Pacific coast south of the beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta, including the area around Manzanillo — Mexico’s largest Pacific port — while a tropical storm watch stretched farther south toward Lázaro Cárdenas. The hurricane center urged residents in the warning area, including the offshore Islas Marías archipelago, to rush preparations to protect life and property.

Life-threatening rainfall and storm surge

Mexican authorities warned that heavy rainfall was expected in the states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco. The hurricane center said Simon could drop 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 cm) of rain across southwestern Mexico through Sunday, with isolated totals of up to 30 inches (76 cm) possible in parts of Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco — a recipe for life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in mountainous terrain.

A storm surge was expected along the coast near and east of the landfall point, accompanied by large, destructive waves, the hurricane center said, with swells creating dangerous surf and rip current conditions along southwestern and west-central Mexico for days.

Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall Sunday between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta, according to Mexico News Daily. AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys said Simon could deliver the most significant hurricane impact on that stretch of the Mexican Pacific coast since Hurricane Lidia in 2023, which damaged thousands of homes and devastated crops along the Jalisco coast.

Evacuations and closures underway

Authorities in Jalisco suspended classes in 22 coastal municipalities through Tuesday and began evacuating residents from high-risk zones. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City issued a weather alert Friday, warning that hurricane-strength winds were expected along the coast from Punta San Telmo, Michoacán, to Punta Mita, Nayarit, beginning Saturday.

Simon formed Wednesday as Tropical Storm Twenty-E and became the 18th named storm of the 2026 Pacific season, rapidly intensifying from Category 3 to Category 4 strength within a day as it approached Mexico.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and Tech Times.