Hurricane Polo Explodes Into a Category 5 Off Mexico's Pacific Coast

Mexico is bracing for tropical impacts this week after Hurricane Polo exploded into a Category 5 storm. Here is the latest on this developing tropical threat in the Eastern Pacific.

Polo Explodes Into Category 5 Hurricane

Hurricane Polo threatens to bring flooding rainfall, destructive winds, dangerous storm surge, and rough seas across parts of Mexico's Pacific coast in the coming days. Polo recently underwent rapid intensification, going from a tropical storm with 50 mph winds to a Category 5 monster.

As of the last update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Polo was packing maximum sustained winds of 165 mph as it crawls along to the north at a speed of just 2 mph. The storm is currently centered about 200 miles south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico.

The Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán have already begun to feel some of the impacts associated with Polo. While the storm is not forecast to make a direct landfall on Mexico, its outer rain bands will be expansive enough to bring rainfall totals of up to 8 inches for the coastal communities located in Guerrero, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán.

Wind speeds will hover in the 40 to 80 mph range along the coastline of Mexico and into the southwestern corner of Nayarit. The southern tip of Baja California Sur will see wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph, making for some uncomfortably windy days for vacationers in Cabo San Lucas.

Both Cabo and Puerto Vallarta will also be dealing with heavy rain at times, along with rough seas. Large swells reaching up to 30 to 45 feet will radiate out from the center of Polo. Swells of this magnitude will present dangerous conditions for small craft.

The silver lining of this particular storm is that it is small in size. The compact nature of Polo may help to limit the storm surge. In addition, the steep slope that stretches along this part of the Mexican coastline should also serve as a natural barrier to the surge, limiting its impacts.

That said, the sheer power of Polo will support the development of breakers of 15 to 20 feet for some of the beaches in the region. Beaches with a more gradual slope into the water will be the most at risk of experiencing these hazardous breakers. The large waves will also generate overwash capable of producing damage.