Hurricane Polo Set to Make Landfall in Mexico

Catastrophic winds, rain, and surf laid siege to the southern half of Baja California on Sept. 28 as Hurricane Polo neared its first landfall in Mexico.

Feeding off the eastern Pacific’s warm waters to maintain Category 5 and Category 4 strength over the past several days, Polo finally made landfall as a Category 3, with maximum sustained winds reaching 115 mph.

The National Hurricane Center reported Polo was about 60 miles northwest of Cabo San Lazaro, moving northeast at 12 mph. It was expected to cross the Gulf of California and head into the Mexican state of Sonora through the night.

“The center of Polo is expected to make landfall along the coast of Baja California Sur later this evening, then move inland over southern Sonora Tuesday morning,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. MST advisory.

“Polo is also expected to be a hurricane when it makes its second landfall in mainland Mexico. Rapid weakening is forecast on Tuesday when Polo moves well inland over mainland Mexico,” it added.

Hurricane warnings were issued for both coastlines of Baja California and the western coast of mainland Mexico. Hurricane-force winds extend 40 miles out from its center while tropical storm-force winds extend more than 100 miles out. This means that areas of Mexico are already under tropical storm conditions.

The National Hurricane Center said that life-threatening winds and flash flooding were ongoing. It also warned that “a storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding in areas of onshore winds. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.” But it did not give an estimated height of what that surge would be.

Rainfall amounts of six to 12 inches were expected for Baja California, and eight inches were expected for mainland Mexico through Sept. 29.

The remnants of Polo are expected to continue moving northeast across the border and into the American Southwest. A wind advisory has already been issued for parts of New Mexico and Western Texas.

“Moisture from Polo will support heavy rainfall and flooding potential across the Southwest U.S. into the Southern High Plains late today into Tuesday,” the National Hurricane Center also warned.

Hurricane Polo is just one of several hurricanes to develop across the Eastern and Central Pacific this hurricane season. Just south of it sits Tropical Storm Rachel, which is expected to stay offshore but has triggered tropical storm warnings for parts of central Mexico’s coast.