The hurricane center called Polo “extremely dangerous” Tuesday morning, as its maximum sustained winds climbed to 165 mph. It will likely continue to strengthen through Wednesday, it said.
At 9 a.m. Central time, Polo was located off the coast of Zihuatanejo, a coastal resort city in the state of Guerrero, and Manzanillo, another coastal city and resort destination in the state of Colima. It was inching northward near the Pacific Coast of Mexico at 2 mph, according to the hurricane center.
The hurricane center said Polo would bring rainfall to parts of the coastline that “may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.”
The Mexican government issued a tropical storm warning for a stretch of the Mexican coast from Tecpan de Galeana, in Guerrero, to Punta San Telmo, in Michoacán. A tropical storm watch was in effect from Punta San Telmo to Playa Perula, in the state of Jalisco. Tropical storm warnings are issued when forecasts indicate tropical storm conditions will develop in a particular area, in this case, within a day or so. Tropical storm watches are issued when those conditions are possible, but not imminent.
Forecasters said they expect Polo to continue on its current path before making a sharp turn toward the northwest Tuesday night and Wednesday, bringing the core of the hurricane near the southwestern Mexican coast in the coming days.
As of early Tuesday, the storm was forecast to remain offshore, but it would likely bring heavy rainfall, in addition to what the hurricane center described as “life-threatening flooding and mudslides” to some coastal places, especially those located in steep terrain.
Parts of Guerrero and Michoacán may receive between 4 and 8 inches of rainfall as Polo barrels past, with up to 8 inches possible in certain spots, through Thursday. Between 2 and 4 inches of rain could also fall in coastal parts of the states of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco through Thursday, forecasters said.
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