Hurricane Simon Weakens Off Mexico Pacific Coast

Hurricane Simon lost steam off Mexico's Pacific coast on Sunday and looked set to spare Baja California's storm-ravaged resorts from another major battering.

The hurricane dropped to category one, the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, with top winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour as it swirled far from the coast, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The storm rapidly weakened throughout the day after reaching powerful category four strength overnight.

Simon was 545 kilometers (340 miles) southwest of Punta Eugenia and lose more strength before becoming a much weaker tropical depression when it reaches the Baja California peninsula later this week, well north of Los Cabos resorts.

A hurricane center tracking map shows Simon making landfall well north of the Los Cabos resorts that were pummeled last month by Hurricane Odile, which left six people dead.

The hurricane was expected to produce up to 20 centimeters (eight inches) of rain across central Baja California and parts of Sonora state in northwestern Mexico.

The rain could trigger flash floods and mudslides, the hurricane center said.