Category 5 Hurricane Polo is an 'extremely dangerous' storm off the coast of Mexico

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Polo grew into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades on Tuesday, and it was expected to skirt Mexico’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 hurricane.

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.

National Hurricane Center data shows that Polo has reached speeds comparable to only a few hurricanes to form in the region in recent decades, primarily Hurricane Patricia, which reached 215 mph (346 kph) in 2015.

“This is one of the strongest storms ever in the (Pacific) Basin,” said Kristen L. Corbosiero, professor at the University at Albany’s Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a weather alert, instructing citizens to avoid water and beaches and to heed warnings from Mexican authorities.

“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 and one 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.

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.

The storm comes at a time that the weather phenomenon El Niño is fueling drastic weather shifts like crippling droughts in Mexico and Central America and floods in other parts of the region. Corbosiero, the University of Albany professor, said it wasn’t immediately clear if El Niño was a contributing factor to the power of the hurricane.

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 start to a season without a hurricane. The effects of this year’s El Niño crush storms before they get going.

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Brooks reported from Atlanta.