Hurricane Simon was headed toward part of Mexico’s Pacific coast Friday and was forecast to get much stronger.
US forecasters issued a hurricane warning for parts of the central and southwest coast, where hurricane-force winds were expected within 36 hours.
Simon had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph early Friday and was moving northwest at 5 mph, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
The Category 1 hurricane was forecast to turn to the north by early Saturday and approach the coast.
Simon was expected to intensify rapidly and become a Category 4 storm before landfall.
Category 4 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale have maximum sustained winds of 130-156 mph.
Simon was centered about 220 miles south of Manzanillo and 325 miles south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes.
Tropical storm conditions were possible along the coast later Friday.
Simon was expected to produce torrential rainfall that could cause flooding and mudslides.
US forecasters said 8 to 15 inches of rain could fall in southwestern Mexico, with isolated areas getting up to 25 inches.
