Hurricane Simon Stalls off Mexico
Hurricane Simon drifted slowly southwest of Cabo Corrientes on Oct. 14, the National Hurricane Center said, while NASA's Earth Observatory published satellite images of the storm at its peak near Mexico's coast.
Written on Oct. 16, 2026 from the source documents listed below, after the dates it covers.
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The story
Hurricane Simon spent Wednesday, Oct. 14, wandering off the Pacific coast of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). At 2 a.m.
MST, the small hurricane was about 150 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, drifting southwest at 3 mph with winds near 105 mph. By 2 p.m., an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft found its sustained winds had dropped to about 75 mph.
Simon is compact: hurricane-force winds extended only about 10 miles from its center.
Simon is compact: hurricane-force winds extended only about 10 miles from its center. A hurricane watch remained in effect for Las Islas Marias, and the NHC expected Simon to move slowly and erratically before turning north or north-northwest by Friday.
The same day, NASA's Earth Observatory published satellite images of Simon at its strongest. On Oct. 11, Simon passed close to the coast as a Category 4 storm with winds reaching 155 mph.
An image from the Suomi NPP satellite that afternoon shows its eye about 30 miles offshore, between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. Citing the NHC, NASA said the Sierra Madre mountains appeared to temper the storm's intensity and shrink its wind field.
A nighttime image from the NOAA-21 satellite captured something that is not always visible: atmospheric gravity waves rippling outward from the hurricane, seen in faint airglow high in the atmosphere. NASA said minimal moonlight that night helped the airglow stand out.
Sources
The primary documents behind this story, with direct links to each one.
- Hurricane Simon Lurks Off the Mexican Coast
- Hurricane Simon Advisory Number 28 (2:00 a.m. MST)
- Hurricane Simon Advisory Number 30 (2:00 p.m. MST)
Image and footage credits: Lead image: NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison · NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (NASA content generally not subject to U.S. copyright) · NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison · NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (NASA content generally not subject to U.S. copyright)
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Source media
Images and footage from the primary sources behind this story, with credits and licenses.
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