Hurricane Simon crawls along Mexico's Pacific coast

Hurricane Simon crept northwest just off Mexico's Pacific coast on Monday, lashing western states with dangerous winds, heavy rain and flooding that put riverside communities on alert for possible evacuations.



The US National Hurricane Center said Simon was about 55 miles (90 km) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco state at 8 a.m. (1400 GMT), packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), making it a Category 2 hurricane.



Simon has weakened since Saturday when it was a Category 4 system.



"Simon is slowly losing wind intensity and could ultimately stall this week and never make a true landfall as an organized storm," said Alex DaSilva, a hurricane expert at private forecaster AccuWeather.



Simon is forecast to make landfall on Thursday in Mexico's Sinaloa state.