Mexico put part of Baja California Sur under a hurricane watch as Polo approached. By September 26, the US National Hurricane Center had lowered its sustained-wind estimate from 165 to 155 miles per hour and saw clouds filling the storm’s eye, yet still forecast a hurricane near the peninsula. A local report said rough seas had already closed ports in Los Cabos and Comondú.
Mexico issued a hurricane watch from Punta Eugenia south to Santa Fe as Polo approached the Baja California Sur peninsula. A watch signals that hurricane conditions are possible; it is not a report that the storm has already made landfall. The US National Hurricane Center issued the watch update in its September 26 advisory, while the storm remained offshore.[1]
Earlier on September 26, the center estimated Polo’s sustained winds at 165 miles per hour. Its later estimate was 155 miles per hour. Infrared satellite images showed the formerly clear eye filling with cloud, which forecasters linked to increasing wind shear. The lower estimate meant weakening from the previous advisory, but Polo was still a powerful hurricane.[1]
The center still forecast a hurricane near Baja California Sur on Monday and warned that heavy rain could bring life-threatening flooding and mudslides, particularly on steep ground. It also warned of dangerous surf and rip currents along parts of Mexico’s northwest coast. A local report said ports in Los Cabos and Comondú had been closed as Polo-related swell raised sea conditions. Those closures were reported locally; the later landfall and rain impacts remained forecasts at this point.[1], [2]
