Hurricane Simon pounds resorts and vulnerable towns along Mexico’s
Pacific coast
[October 12, 2026]
By FERNANDO LLANO and MARTIN SILVA
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico’s Pacific
coast as a Category 3 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore
as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the
Sierra Madre and the ocean.
The hurricane's center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the
Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were
expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Its
maximum sustained winds weakened late Sunday to 115 mph (185 kph),
according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, but it was
still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane.
That’s not good news for people in and around Puerto Vallarta, a popular
tourist destination in the state of Jalisco. Just inland and uphill from
the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might
not stand up to the storm.
By late Sunday, Simon's eye was moving northwest about 45 miles (75
kilometers) south of Cabo Corrientes at about 5 mph (7 kph). A senior
hurricane center specialist, Philippe Papin, said this westernmost tip
of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the
system. Cabo Corrientes is at the southern tip of Bahia de Banderas, the
wide bay where Puerto Vallarta looks out to the Pacific.
Forecasters powerful winds will sweep from Mexico's western coast to
the Sierra Madre
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles (30 kilometers), and
tropical-storm-force winds reach up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) from
Simon’s center, meaning the entire area between Mexico's western coast
and the Sierra Madre mountains could be affected.
“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. “They’re also getting very
heavy rainfall associated with the storm that’s likely going to produce
life-threatening flooding and mudslides in areas of higher terrain along
the Mexican coastline, and there will be significant swells.”
The hurricane center said Simon was expected to dump an additional 2 to
4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain, with some areas getting up to 8
inches (20 centimeters), in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and
Sinaloa through early Thursday.
Isolated totals of 30 inches (76 centimeters) were possible parts in
Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco states, producing life-threatening
flooding and mudslides, the center said.
Mexico's president urges residents to stay sheltered
As the storm approached Puerto Vallarta, National Guard vehicles
patrolled the streets while police used a megaphone to call out the few
people who were jogging, walking their dogs or biking by the waterfront.
Officers reminded people that the area was closed and urged them to take
shelter. Not everyone followed the orders.
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A National Guard stands in the spray as a wave hits the seawall
brought by the approaching Hurricane Simon in Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Jalisco state suspended classes on Friday and Monday in 22 coastal
municipalities and began evacuating people from at-risk areas while
asking the tourism sector to make sure workers and visitors are
fully accommodated in shelters or safe zones.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took to the social platform X on
Sunday to urge people in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to
stay sheltered until the government issues a notification that the
danger has passed. She also asked people to follow recommendations
from civil protection officials and to avoid traveling on public
roads.
“Precautionary evacuation efforts to safe zones are ongoing; the
priority is our safety,” she wrote.
Hotel worker says residents learned from major hurricane in 2002
Hotel worker Víctor Martínez went shopping for nonperishable food
Sunday afternoon. He said he could not go to work because public
transportation service was suspended and most of the hotel had been
evacuated.
Martínez found people’s concerns about the hurricane comforting.
“It happened to us before. It hit us years ago,” Martínez said,
referring to a Category 5 hurricane that hit the area in 2002.
“People didn’t expect it. We were very skeptical that it would ever
hit us. Now, though, we’re different. Precautions are being taken.
It happened to us once, and we won’t let it happen again.”
Despite the risks posed by Simon, tourists were still arriving in
Puerto Vallarta.
Visitors Ricardo Ramírez and Brenda Villarreal, who have never lived
through a hurricane, went looking for food by the city’s boardwalk
and came across police urging people to take shelter. Ramírez said
they were completely unprepared for the situation.
“The boardwalk is closed. Be responsible. Understand!” police told
passersby using a megaphone.
Ramírez said he and Villarreal had planned their four-day vacation
since last year and traveled from Guadalajara, Jalisco’s capital.
“We don’t know the extent of the danger yet,” Villarreal said.
“We’re just starting to see what’s going on.”
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