Hurricane Simon weakens to a Category 1 and crawls off Mexico; hurricane warning for the Islas Marías, watch for Sinaloa

Monday's story had Simon as a Category 3, with winds near 115 mph, still offshore. By 5 a.m. Mountain time Tuesday, Intermediate Advisory 24A put the top winds near 90 mph (150 kilometers an hour). That is Category 1. The minimum central pressure was 977 millibars.

The center was near latitude 20.4 north, longitude 107.2 west: about 95 miles (155 kilometers) west of Cabo Corrientes, and about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south-southwest of Mazatlán. Simon was moving west-northwest near 3 mph. A slow northwestward motion, and an eventual turn to the north, is forecast over the next few days. The center says Simon is forecast to remain a hurricane through midweek.

Simon is very small. Hurricane-force winds extend up to 10 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 45 miles.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Las Islas Marías. A hurricane watch covers the coast north of Escuinapa to Bahía Tempehuaya. A tropical storm watch covers Cabo Corrientes to Escuinapa. A warning means hurricane conditions are expected. A watch means they are possible. Hurricane conditions are likely on the Islas Marías over the next day or so. Simon could approach the coast of western Mexico later this week at or near hurricane strength.

The center forecasts 5 to 10 inches of rain across coastal west-central Mexico, and isolated amounts of 15 inches over Sinaloa by Thursday. It says that rain will bring life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in steep terrain. A dangerous storm surge is possible near the Islas Marías. Swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents along the southwestern and west-central coasts.

The center's discussion, written at 2 a.m. Mountain time, says the models do not agree on the track. It calls this a very low confidence forecast. No later discussion had replaced it when this story was filed. The 5 a.m. advisory did not change the watches.

Mexican officials gave a first accounting at the president's Monday morning news conference. Laura Velázquez Alzúa, the national civil protection coordinator, said one person had died in Guerrero, and that Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco had reported no deaths. Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said a 71-year-old person died when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo. Colima Governor Indira Vizcaíno said 71 homes and 35 businesses were affected, and that no one was dead, hurt, or missing. Velázquez said her team was moving to Mazatlán, in Sinaloa. Those are the officials' statements that morning. They are not a later national damage total.

The U.S. center tells people in Mexico to follow products from their national meteorological service. This desk did not open those pages.