Two tropical weather systems impacted Mexico’s Pacific coast, resulting in fatalities and significant damage across multiple regions. A 71-year-old resident of Chilpancingo in Guerrero state died when a structure collapsed during Hurricane Simon, according to state governor Evelyn Salgado. Infrastructure and residences sustained damage in coastal areas including the port city of Acapulco.
Tropical Storm Rachel claimed four lives belonging to a single family, including two children, whose remains were discovered near Ensenada in Baja California. State authorities reported five additional individuals unaccounted for following the storms. Emergency responders conducted helicopter-based rescue operations that extracted 32 people from affected areas, while officials provided temporary shelter to more than 50 displaced residents, according to Baja California governor Marina del Pilar.
Simon weakened to category two status on the Saffir-Simpson scale and did not make landfall, though it continued moving inland. The National Hurricane Center in Miami indicated that rainfall from Simon over west-central Mexico in subsequent days could still pose threats including life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Coastal regions faced warnings of waves reaching five meters in height. Flooding and landslide events had already affected communities proximate to waterways in Michoacan and Colima states.
Meteorologists attributed the intensity of the current hurricane season to El Niño conditions characterized by elevated Pacific water temperatures. Experts indicated that the 2026-27 El Niño pattern is expected to represent the strongest occurrence ever documented. Research suggests that human-induced climate change is contributing to increased intensity in El Niño phenomena.
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