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

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Polo grew increasingly strong Tuesday and was forecast to gain more intensity as it skirted Mexico’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 cyclone, weather experts said.

Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (266 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.

It was centered 215 miles (346 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and stationary over the Pacific Ocean at midday. The hurricane center said it would send an aircraft into the storm to investigate.

Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes in a number of areas along the coast as Polo brushed along the coastline. Many residents of the region 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 that was 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.

Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that the storm’s maximum sustained winds exceed 157 mph (253 kph).

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 a season has begun without a hurricane. The effects of this year’s El Nino crush storms before they get going.

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