The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Simon, south of Manzanillo, could strengthen rapidly and approach southwestern Mexico late Saturday.
Tropical Storm Simon is forecast to strengthen rapidly into a major hurricane before it strikes Mexico's Pacific coast this weekend, Reuters reported, citing the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The center said the storm was about 245 miles, or 395 kilometres, south of Manzanillo at midday Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, or 100 km/h.
Simon was moving west at 5 mph and was expected to turn north on Friday, approaching southwestern and west-central Mexico late on Saturday, Reuters said. Forecasters warned of destructive winds, life-threatening flooding and dangerous storm surge.
The National Hurricane Center said Simon could drop 8 to 15 inches of rain, 20 to 38 centimetres, across parts of southwestern Mexico through Sunday, with isolated totals up to 25 inches, or 64 centimetres, in Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco. That rain could trigger flooding and mudslides, especially in mountains.
AccuWeather, a private forecaster cited by Reuters, said Simon could make landfall in western Mexico on Sunday with gusts of 120 to 130 mph near the impact point and surge of up to 15 feet in the worst-hit areas. Those figures are a private forecast, not the official landfall intensity.
The report is a forecast. The center had not reported landfall on Thursday.