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PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — <\/span>PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Hurricane Simon<\/a> pounded Mexico\u2019s Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean.<\/p>\n The hurricane’s center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Its maximum sustained winds weakened Sunday to 120 mph (195 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, but it was still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not good news for people in and around Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination in the state of Jalisco. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm.<\/p>\n By Sunday afternoon, Simon’s eye was moving northwest about 45 miles (75 kilometers) south of Cabo Corrientes at about 5 mph (7 kph). A senior hurricane center specialist, Philippe Papin, said this westernmost tip of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the system. Cabo Corrientes is at the southern tip of Bahia de Banderas, the wide bay where Puerto Vallarta looks out to the Pacific.<\/p>\n Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles (30 kilometers), and tropical-storm-force winds reach up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) from Simon\u2019s center, meaning the entire area between Mexico’s western coast and the Sierra Madre mountains could be affected. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re expecting catastrophic wind and life-threatening storm surge impacts along that west-central coast of Mexico where the hurricane warning is currently in effect,\u201d Papin said. \u201cThey\u2019re also getting very heavy rainfall associated with the storm that\u2019s likely going to produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides in areas of higher terrain along the Mexican coastline, and there will be significant swells.\u201d <\/p>\n The hurricane center on Sunday said Simon was expected to dump an additional 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain, with some areas getting up to 8 inches (20 centimeters), in the states of Colima, Jalisco<\/a>, Nayarit and Sinaloa through early Thursday. <\/p>\n \u201cIsolated maximum storm totals of 30 inches (76 centimeters) are possible over portions of the states of Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco,” the center said in its latest advisory. “This rainfall will produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides or worsen any on-going flooding, especially in areas of steep terrain.\u201d<\/p>\n As the storm approached Puerto Vallarta, National Guard vehicles patrolled the streets while police used a megaphone to call out the few people who were jogging, walking their dogs or biking by the waterfront. Officers reminded people that the area was closed and urged them to take shelter. Not everyone followed the orders. <\/p>\n