Hurricane Simon made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, with its center skirting the shoreline while unleashing its strongest winds and rain on communities nestled between the Sierra Madre mountains and the sea. The storm’s eye was tracking parallel to the coast, nearing the Puerto Vallarta region, where the most destructive winds and rainfall were anticipated to strike overnight and persist into Monday.
Although the storm’s sustained winds had diminished to 185 kilometers per hour by late Sunday, as reported by the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, it was still expected to pose a significant threat. This posed a concerning situation for residents in the Puerto Vallarta area, a favored spot for Canadian vacationers. Inland from the resort zones, many local Mexican residents inhabit communities with housing structures that may not withstand the storm’s impact.
As of late Sunday, the eye of Hurricane Simon was advancing northwest, approximately 75 kilometers south of Cabo Corrientes, moving at a pace of about seven kilometers per hour. A specialist from the hurricane center, Philippe Papin, highlighted Cabo Corrientes as the area most likely to directly face the brunt of the storm’s force. Cabo Corrientes is situated at the southern extremity of Bahia de Banderas, the expansive bay where Puerto Vallarta overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
Pappin cautioned, “We anticipate severe wind and potentially life-threatening storm surges along the west-central Mexican coast under the current hurricane warning.” He added that heavy rainfall associated with the storm could lead to life-threatening flooding and landslides in elevated regions along the Mexican shoreline, coupled with significant swells.
Predicting whether Hurricane Simon will make landfall remains challenging at present, with the eye closely tracking parallel to the coast, according to Pappin. The storm was also causing heavy rainfall across parts of southwestern Mexico, with expected totals of 25 to 50 centimeters in many areas, and up to 76 centimeters in select regions of Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco. The National Guard was patrolling Puerto Vallarta’s streets as the storm approached, urging residents to seek shelter, while Jalisco state had already evacuated individuals from vulnerable areas and suspended classes in coastal municipalities.
Businesses in Puerto Vallarta had taken precautions ahead of the storm, such as boarding up windows, as they braced for potentially severe weather conditions. The hurricane center warned of a dangerous storm surge along the immediate coast near and east of the projected landfall area, with accompanying large and destructive waves. Despite the looming threat, Canadian tourist Ed Currie, still planning to spend five more days in Puerto Vallarta with his wife, expressed uncertainty about the storm’s impact on their vacation plans.