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Hurricane Simon lashes Mexico's Pacific coast, threatens landfall / Photo: © AFP
Hurricane Simon lashes Mexico's Pacific coast, threatens landfall
Hurricane Simon lashed Mexico's Pacific coast with severe winds and heavy rain on Monday, as it threatens to make landfall this week, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane -- downgraded a notch to Category 3 strength on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale -- was moving slowly and remained dangerous.
Simon is expected "to move inland across west-central Mexico around midweek," the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory.
"Dangerous winds and flooding rains continue along the coast," it said.
Simon was packing maximum sustained winds of 115 miles (185 km) per hour while located around 50 miles (75 km) off Cabo Corrientes in Mexico's Jalisco state early Monday, according to the NHC.
Weather reports had initially forecast a landfall on Sunday around midday local time (1800 GMT).
Simon is the latest in a busy hurricane season in the Pacific, where the powerful El Nino ocean warming phenomenon is weakening wind shear, allowing the storms to gain in strength. By contrast, El Nino has helped keep the Atlantic hurricane season relatively quiet.
R.Baker--SFF
