The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Tuesday warned Lidia was of "extremely dangerous" strength and could strengthen further before making landfall on Tuesday night.
The hurricane was about 180km southwest of major beach destination Puerto Vallarta, the Miami-based NHC reported in its latest bulletin.
The centre estimated Lidia was moving east-northeast at 26km/h with maximum sustained winds of 225km/h.
The hurricane's rainfall was estimated at between 10-20 cm, though some areas could see up to 30cm through Wednesday, according to an earlier bulletin.
A large swath of western and central Mexico will likely see the brunt of the expected downpour, including Nayarit state, southern portions of Sinaloa state, plus coastal areas in Jalisco state.
"These rains will likely produce flash and urban flooding, along with possible mudslides in areas of higher terrain near the coast," the NHC predicted.
The strength of Lidia's winds, however, are expected to weaken rapidly after it moves inland.
Further south, Tropical Storm Max left two dead and at least two injured in the state of Guerrero following heavy rains, according to local media reports.
