Hurricane Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades, and it was expected to skirt Mexico’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 storm.
Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Tuesday night.
Polo was nearly stationary early Wednesday about 325 kilometres south of Zihuatanejo in Guerrero state.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said experts showed that the hurricane was not likely to touch land. Hurricane-force winds extend up to 65 kilometres from the storm’s centre and tropical storm-force winds up to 169 kilometres from the eye, the U.S. centre said.
Tropical storm conditions were expected along the Pacific coast in Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima states Wednesday into Thursday.
The hurricane set residents along Mexico’s Pacific coast on edge once again after being walloped by some powerful cyclones in recent years. Beaches emptied and dark clouds swirled above choppy seas, while Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes Tuesday in some areas.
U.S. National Hurricane Center 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 346km/h in 2015.
“This is one of the strongest storms ever in the (Pacific) Basin,” said Kristen L. Corbosiero, professor at the University at Albany’s Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences.
Polo is the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year.