Hurricane Polo Becomes the Pacific's Second-Strongest Storm on Record

Hurricane Polo made history this week as the second-strongest hurricane on record in the Pacific. The moisture associated with this record-breaking storm is also fueling a dangerous flash flooding situation in parts of the Southwest, and a separate system is now closing in on Hawaii with fears of catastrophic flooding.

Hurricane Polo Lays its Claim to History

The Eastern Pacific is teeming with tropical activity this week, continuing the trend that has marked this basin all summer. Hurricane Polo has been fluctuating between Category 4 and Category 5 strength since undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle, as it churns off Mexico's southwestern coast.

The storm went through the process of rapid intensification earlier in the week, with maximum sustained winds increasing by 110 mph in a period of just 24 hours. This marked the second-fastest rate of intensification ever observed. Polo will also go down in the record books for seeing its central pressure dive to 892 millibars, good enough for the second-lowest pressure ever recorded in either the Eastern or Central Pacific.

Although Polo weakened slightly on Wednesday, its peak winds of 180 mph tied with 2009's Hurricane Rick for the third-highest wind speeds ever observed in the Pacific, coming in behind 2015's Patricia with winds at 215 mph and 1997's Linda with winds topping out at 185 mph. In short, Polo is a record-breaker across several different metrics.