MANZANILLO, Mexico — Hurricane Simon crawled toward Mexico’s west-central Pacific coast early Sunday as a fierce Category 4 storm, prompting evacuations and school closures as forecasters warned of catastrophic rain, destructive winds and life-threatening storm surge.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Simon intensified late Saturday to pack maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, leaving it just two mph shy of Category 5 status. As of late Saturday night, the system was centered about 65 miles south-southwest of the major port city of Manzanillo, drifting northward at a slow pace of 5 mph, CBS News reported.
Meteorologists expect Simon to reach the coastline on Sunday as a major hurricane, which is classified as Category 3 or higher with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. Forecasters noted that rugged coastal terrain could cause the storm to weaken quickly if its center pushes fully over land, but serious impacts are expected regardless of whether its eye crosses the shore or grazes the coast.
Preparations Underway Along the Coast
Government authorities in the state of Jalisco suspended school classes on Monday across 22 coastal municipalities and initiated evacuations for dozens of residents living in vulnerable, low-lying zones, Al Jazeera English reported. Officials also instructed the hospitality sector in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta to arrange safe shelter for tourism workers and guests.
Along the coast, store owners and hotel operators boarded up windows and stacked sandbags ahead of deteriorating weather conditions. Civil protection agencies warned that rainfall could trigger deadly flash floods and mudslides across steep slopes.
The hurricane center projected that Simon could dump 10 to 20 inches of rain over parts of southwestern Mexico, with localized rainfall reaching as high as 30 inches across the states of Colima, Michoacan and Jalisco. A dangerous storm surge accompanied by large, destructive ocean swells is forecast to batter areas near and to the east of the landfall zone, according to official bulletins.
An aerial reconnaissance flight by hurricane hunters on Saturday registered a minimum central pressure of 933 millibars and confirmed concentric eyewalls after rapid intensification, according to a report by Yale Climate Connections.
Multiple Storm Systems in Motion
The Pacific basin has maintained high activity following the passage of Hurricane Polo, which struck Mexico as a Category 2 system the previous week before bringing floods into the southwestern U.S., CBS News reported.
Farther north, another storm system posed risks near the border. Post-Tropical Cyclone Rachel, downgraded from a tropical storm late Saturday with sustained winds near 60 mph, moved rapidly toward northwestern Mexico and the American Southwest, Yale Climate Connections reported. Rachel was forecast to sweep through far southern California, southwest Arizona and southern Utah on Sunday, bringing gusts and up to three inches of rainfall over desert canyons.
The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings for San Diego and Los Angeles counties, cautioning that large swells and elevated sea levels could produce significant beach flooding during Sunday morning high tides.
The dual Pacific storms followed on the heels of Hurricane Isaias, which made landfall in the western Florida Panhandle on Friday night, causing widespread damage along the Gulf Coast before moving inland.
What happens next for Simon depends on its precise angle of approach. Meteorologists cautioned that even minor deviations to the east or west will dictate whether the eyewall moves directly over populated coastal towns or remains offshore as the hurricane approaches the region near Puerto Vallarta.
