Simon strengthens to 170 km/h, stalls off Mexico’s coast

Hurricane Simon strengthened to sustained winds of about 170 km/h and was drifting slowly west-southwest off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, Oct. 14, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, leaving the timing and place of any landfall uncertain.

Updated Oct. 14, 2026, 7:45 a.m. MDT

That is stronger than the 150 km/h the centre recorded early Tuesday, and it undercuts the Oct. 15 landfall near Mazatlán that the Government of Canada’s Mexico travel advisory carried on Oct. 12 and that Canada News Media reported on Oct. 13. Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Manzanillo are all winter destinations for Canadians.

The centre’s 5 a.m. MST advisory (No. 28A) put Simon at 19.8°N, 108.1°W, moving west-southwest at about 5 km/h, with a minimum central pressure of 969 millibars. Its headline said “Simon drifting west-southwestward” and told interests in west-central Mexico and Baja California Sur to keep monitoring the hurricane. That is the equivalent of a Category 2 storm.

The previous advisory, No. 27 at 8 p.m. MST Tuesday, had winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) and said Simon “could become a major hurricane again,” according to the tracking site Cyclocane, which reproduces the centre’s text. Its five-day track ends with a weak remnant low near 27.2°N, 110.9°W in the Gulf of California, and it showed no landfall before then.

Forecasters have little confidence in where the storm goes. The centre rated its track and intensity forecasts “very low” confidence on Tuesday, with weak steering currents and models that disagree, according to the science site The Watchers, which quoted the advisory. NASA’s Earth Observatory said on Oct. 14 that the storm “may turn north into the Gulf of California before any landfall.”

The Canadian advisory, updated at 3:50 p.m. ET on Oct. 13, now reads: “Hurricane Simon is expected to sweep across the west-central coast of Mexico, from north of Escuinapa to Bahia Tempehuaya, including the Marias Islands, before making landfall as a tropical storm near Hermosillo on October 17, 2026.” It tells Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to that stretch of coast. The wording differs from the centre’s own track, so travellers should treat the date and place as provisional.

Hurricane watches and warnings covered Las Islas Marías and the Sinaloa coast at points on Oct. 13, and reports differ on what is in force now. The centre’s current list governs, and it is not reproduced here.

The human toll is still unsettled. The Watchers counted five deaths linked to Simon and the remnants of Hurricane Rachel: one man in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, and four people in Maneadero, near Ensenada, Baja California, citing La Jornada. AFP, in a report carried by the Jamaica Observer, said one death was confirmed and the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Avila, reported 10 people missing and one child dead. Canada News Media reported at least two dead on Oct. 13. All figures are preliminary.

In Puerto Vallarta the sky had cleared by Tuesday. “Much more at ease,” resident Magda Flores, 55, told AFP. Deep Arrival, citing Yahoo Travel, reported that Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas lost a planned Mazatlán call and that Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady dropped Mazatlán from its Oct. 10 to 17 sailing. Canada News Media has not confirmed either change with the cruise lines.

Simon has already helped push the 2026 eastern Pacific season to a record for accumulated cyclone energy, and it reached Category 4 with 240 km/h winds on Oct. 10 and 11. NASA’s satellite image from Oct. 11 shows the eye about 50 km off the coast between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta.

The centre issues new advisories through the day, and its Oct. 13 outlook said hurricane conditions were possible in the watch area on Thursday, Oct. 15. Canadians in the area can register with the Government of Canada’s Registration of Canadians Abroad service and should check with airlines and tour operators before travelling.

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Via the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Cyclocane, The Watchers, AFP (Jamaica Observer), NASA Earth Observatory and Deep Arrival. Developing story.