Hurricane Simon Pounds Mexico’s Pacific Coast as Category 3 Storm Nears Puerto Vallarta

Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico’s Pacific coast on Sunday as a Category 3 storm, its eye churning just offshore while its most powerful winds and rain hammered the coast between the Sierra Madre and the ocean, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The storm’s center moved parallel to the coast and closed in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where the hurricane’s most damaging winds and rain were expected to arrive around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Simon’s maximum sustained winds weakened Sunday to 120 mph (195 kph), the Miami-based hurricane center said, but it was still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane.

Senior hurricane specialist Philippe Papin said the westernmost tip of mainland Mexico was the area most likely to take a direct hit. By Sunday afternoon, Simon’s eye was about 45 miles south of Cabo Corrientes, moving northwest at about 5 mph.

Life-threatening storm surge and up to 30 inches of rain possible

“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. Heavy rain was expected to produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides in higher terrain along the coastline.

The hurricane center said Simon would dump an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain through early Thursday, with some areas getting up to 8 inches, in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa. Isolated storm totals of 30 inches were possible over parts of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco, the center warned.

Sheinbaum urges residents to stay sheltered; evacuations underway

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took to social media Sunday to urge people in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to stay sheltered until the government says the danger has passed, asking them to follow civil protection guidance and avoid traveling on public roads. “Precautionary evacuation efforts to safe zones are ongoing; the priority is our safety,” she wrote.

Jalisco state suspended classes Friday and Monday in 22 coastal municipalities, began evacuating at-risk areas and asked the tourism sector to keep workers and visitors in shelters or safe zones. In Puerto Vallarta, National Guard vehicles patrolled the streets while police used megaphones to order people off the waterfront.

The storm is a particular threat to the vulnerable communities just inland and uphill from Puerto Vallarta’s resort zones, where housing may not withstand the storm, according to the Associated Press. Hotel worker Víctor Martínez said public transportation was suspended and most of his hotel had been evacuated, comparing preparations favorably to a Category 5 hurricane that struck the area in 2002.

Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press, NPR and the U.S. National Hurricane Center.