Hurricane Simon Harpoons Mexico’s Pacific Coast Despite Weakening

Hurricane Simon continues to impact Mexico’s Pacific coastline on Sunday, delivering severe rainfall and potent winds to vulnerable coastal regions despite having downgraded to a Category 3 storm. The system is tracking parallel to the shore, maintaining enough strength to pose significant threats to west-central Mexico through the evening.

According to the latest advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, Simon is expected to gradually weaken further before moving farther offshore by Monday. However, meteorologists predict the storm will curve back toward the Mexican coast by Wednesday.

Mexican civil protection authorities have escalated alert levels across the region, placing 28 municipalities in the states of Jalisco and Colima under the highest cyclone warning. An additional 93 municipalities remain on high alert as the storm system approaches.

The eye of the hurricane drew closest to the Puerto Vallarta area, where residents faced the brunt of the storm’s most dangerous winds and rain around midnight Sunday into Monday morning. Puerto Vallarta is a major tourist hub in Jalisco, but the storm also endangers inland and hillside communities where housing structures may not withstand such extreme weather.

Philippe Papin, a senior specialist at the hurricane center, warned of catastrophic consequences for the region between the western coast and the Sierra Madre mountains. “We are expecting catastrophic wind and life-threatening storm surge impacts along that west-central coast,” Papin stated. He added that heavy rainfall would likely trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides in higher terrain areas, alongside significant ocean swells.

In the port city of Manzanillo, residents waded through flooded streets on Sunday morning as military personnel assisted in rescue operations following overnight downpours. Cecilia Palomar described the devastation to Reuters, noting that her home was completely submerged. “The beds, the refrigerators, the stoves, all the furniture got wet. The whole house flooded,” she said. Palomar also expressed concern for her elderly mother, who refused to leave their home for higher ground.

Authorities have responded by closing Puerto Vallarta International Airport and suspending non-essential activities. Emergency shelters have been established in threatened coastal zones. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged residents across Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, and Michoacan to stay indoors ahead of the storm.

This event follows closely after Hurricane Polo struck Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula earlier in the week as a Category 2 storm, causing widespread power outages and street flooding.