Hurricane Polo brings heavy rain and dangerous surf to southwestern Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Heavy surf and rain battered southwestern Mexico on Thursday as Hurricane Polo moved slowly northwest offshore, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Authorities near Cabo San Lucas have restricted beach access and closed the local harbor.

Storm strength and forecast

Polo had maximum sustained winds near 155 miles per hour (250 kph) and was classified as a Category 4 storm, down from Category 5, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The NHC said some near-term strengthening was possible and Polo was expected to remain a major hurricane for the next few days.

Private forecaster AccuWeather expected Polo to make landfall late Sunday night into Monday. It forecast that the storm would weaken to Category 2 as it crossed the Baja California peninsula north of Cabo San Lucas.

Rain, winds and coastal hazards

The NHC said Polo’s outer rainbands were moving onshore and producing heavy rain, while tropical-storm-force winds were likely occurring along the southwestern Mexican coast. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 40 miles (65 km) from the storm’s center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 125 miles (205 km).

Additional rainfall of 2 to 4 inches (50.8 to 101.6 mm), with isolated totals of up to 6 inches, was expected along coastal parts of Michoacan, Colima, northern and southern Jalisco, and Nayarit. The NHC warned that swells were likely to cause life-threatening surf, rip currents and coastal flooding.

AccuWeather hurricane expert Nicholas Arman said moisture could reach Texas if Polo followed its expected track. He described it as a “textbook El Niño” effect, in which strong tropical development in the Pacific pushes moisture into the southwestern US.