Polo among strongest storms ever near Mexican coast as Odalys forms into hurricane
Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades and was expected to skirt Mexico’s southwestern coast as a major hurricane, while another Pacific system, Odalys, strengthened Wednesday from a tropical storm to a hurricane without threatening land.The U.S.National Hurricane Center in Miami has called Polo an “extremely dangerous” storm and forecast the system would turn sharply to the northwest before moving west-northwest over the next several days.Polo was about 165 miles (266 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo and 320 miles (515 kilometers) southeast of Manzanillo, the center reported.
It was moving slowly north with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph).That put it at Category 4 strength, after earlier being a Category 5 storm.“Fluctuations in intensity are expected, but Polo is expected to remain a very powerful major hurricane during the next few days,” the NHC said.Odalys was a Category 1 hurricane and was about 1,295 miles (2,085 kilometers) off the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, moving east-northeast at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), the hurricane center said.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said experts indicated Polo was not likely to touch land.
Still, hurricane-force winds extend up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the storm’s center and tropical storm-force winds up to 105 miles (169 kilometers) from the eye, the U.S.center said.Tropical storm conditions were expected along the Pacific coast in Guerrero, Michoacan, and Colima states Wednesday into Thursday.Polo on Tuesday became 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 157 mph (253 kph).The hurricane set residents along Mexico’s Pacific coast on edge once again after being walloped by a number of powerful cyclone...