Hurricane Polo and Hurricane Nolo are churning in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, each carrying threats of heavy rain to different areas of land over the coming days.
Polo, a monster of a storm that regained its strength to a Category 5 with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph as of 4 a.m. ET, is moving away from Mexico’s western coast but will make a turn and is expected to make landfall in Baja California Sur and then mainland Mexico early next week.
Moisture from Polo could have impacts all the way in the Southwestern United States, forecasters said.
Meanwhile, Nolo became a hurricane on Thursday night, and now boasts 80 mph winds as a Category 1 gaining more strength, the National Hurricane Center said. It’s forecast to develop into a “major hurricane” – a storm of Category 3 or higher – by Saturday as it approaches Hawaii, bringing as much as 35 inches of rain to the Big Island. It is not expected to make landfall but will still have heavy impacts in the state.
“People need to make their preparations today,” Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said Thursday evening. “We are expecting very heavy rainfall across portions of the Big Island and Maui that could lead to life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides.”
Polo remains a powerful storm
06:52 AM ET, September 25 2026, Dinah Voyles Pulver
Hurricane Polo restrengthened to a Category 5 storm again by early Friday morning, with sustained winds of 160 mph, the hurricane center said. The powerful hurricane could still be near major hurricane strength (winds of 111 mph or more) as it approaches the coast of the Baja California Peninsula early next week.
Polo became one of the strongest hurricanes on record in Pacific basin history earlier in the week as it rapidly intensified, peaking at maximum sustained winds of 180 mph.
Interests in the United States Southwest should be aware that moisture from both Polo and Hurricane Odalys elsewhere in the eastern North Pacific will be carried “a long distance into the southwestern United States this weekend and early next week, and may indirectly contribute to a heavy rainfall and flash flood threat in the region.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricanes Polo and Nolo threaten Mexico and Hawaii: Live updates
Leave a Reply