Hurricane Polo extremely dangerous
Miami (AP) — Hurricane Polo grew increasingly powerful Tuesday and could gain more intensity as it skirts Mexico’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 cyclone, weather experts said.
Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (290 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an update from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft that was sent into the cyclone.
It was the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year. Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that a storm has maximum sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (253 kph).
Polo was centered 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and nearly stationary over the Pacific Ocean at midday. The hurricane center update said Polo was expected to travel in a generally west-northwestward direction over the next several days.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a weather alert, instructing citizens to avoid water and beaches and to heed warnings from Mexican authorities.
Hurricane Polo extremely dangerous
“Even if the storm does not make direct landfall, heavy rain may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Hazardous ocean conditions—intensified by storms—may result in deadly rip currents and rogue waves,” the Embassy wrote in a statement.
Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes in a number of areas along the Pacific coast as Polo brushed along the coastline on Tuesday. Many residents were on edge this week watching the rapidly intensifying hurricane plow by. In recent years, the Pacific coastal states of Guerrero and Oaxaca have been ravaged by powerful hurricanes walloping the coast, with a number of communities still picking up the pieces.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing that experts had indicated that the hurricane was not likely to touch land. Mexico’s Navy shut down ports in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán as a precaution and warned civilians and fishermen to take care.
In Acapulco, the region’s most important port city that was left reeling by a devastating hurricane in 2023, fishing boats normally bobbing in the ocean were pulled onshore on empty beaches as waves and dark clouds swirled nearby.
Hurricane Polo extremely dangerous
Heavy rain could produce flash flooding and mudslides. About 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain was forecast for Guerrero and Michoacán states, with smaller amounts possible for coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states. Strong winds and rough surf were also expected.
Tropical Storm Odalys was also in the Pacific Ocean but far from land. The cyclone was expected to become a hurricane sometime Tuesday, the hurricane center said. Odalys had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph).
In the Atlantic Ocean, Fay weakened to a tropical depression. Maximum sustained winds were down to 35 mph (56 kph) Tuesday and the system was far southwest of the Azores. Forecasters said it would be a remnant low later in the day.
No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year, and this year has set a record for the longest a season has begun without a hurricane. The effects of this year’s El Nino crush storms before they get going.
