Hurricane Polo off Mexican coast is ‘one of the strongest storms ever’

Hurricane Polo in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. Picture: NOAA via AP

Hurricane Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades and was expected to skirt Mexico’s south-western coast as a Category 5 storm.

The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami called Polo an “extremely dangerous” storm and forecast the system would turn sharply to the north-west before moving west-northwest over the next several days.

Early on Wednesday, Polo was about 185 miles south of Zihuatanejo and 335 miles south-east of Manzanillo, moving north at 2mp/h (3km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 155mp/h

(249km/h), the centre reported.

Meanwhile, Odalys has strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane without threatening land.

Odalys was about 1,295 miles off the southern tip of Baja California moving east-northeast at 9mp/h (14km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 75mp/h (120km/h), the hurricane centre said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said experts indicated Polo was not likely to touch land.

Still, hurricane-force winds extend up to 40 miles from the storm’s centre and tropical storm-force winds up to 105 miles from the eye, the US centre said.

Tropical storm conditions were expected along the Pacific coast in the states of Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima.

Polo is the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year.

Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that a storm has maximum sustained winds exceeding 157mp/h(253km/h).

The hurricane set residents along Mexico’s Pacific coast on edge once again after being walloped by a number of powerful cyclones in recent years.

Beaches emptied and dark clouds swirled above choppy seas, while Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes on Tuesday in a number of areas.

Mexico’s navy shut down ports in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan and warned civilians and fishermen to take care.

US National Hurricane Centre data shows Polo’s winds reached speeds comparable to only a few hurricanes in the region in recent decades, primarily Hurricane Patricia, which had winds that reached 215mp/h (346km/h) in 2015.

“This is one of the strongest storms ever in the (Pacific) Basin,” said Kristen Corbosiero, professor at the University at Albany’s Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences.

Heavy rain could produce flash flooding and mudslides.