Category 3 Hurricane Polo closes in on Baja California Sur

• The National Hurricane Center placed Polo about 200 kilometres southwest of Cabo San Lazaro at 2am local time on Monday, moving north-north-east with sustained winds of 185 km/h. It classified the storm as Category 3.¹
• The NHC forecast the hurricane to move inland over Baja California Sur late Monday afternoon or early evening, then reach southern Sonora late Monday night or early Tuesday.¹
• Hurricane warnings covered parts of both coasts of Baja California Sur and a stretch of mainland Sonora. The NHC warned of life-threatening flooding and mudslides.¹
• Baja California Sur authorities suspended maritime activity, extended school closures and prepared 169 temporary shelters with capacity for 33,192 people.²

Polo’s forecast track put the peninsula in the path of a powerful storm, though landfall had not yet occurred in the NHC’s 2am advisory. The centre was moving north-north-east at 17 km/h, and the hurricane centre forecast winds near major-hurricane strength when it reached Baja California Sur.¹

The NHC expected 15 to 30 centimetres of rain in parts of the state, with 10 to 15 centimetres in southern and central Sonora and isolated totals up to 20 centimetres. It warned that the rain could trigger life-threatening floods and mudslides, particularly in steep terrain.¹

The state government said schools would remain closed through Tuesday in all five municipalities, government offices would close on Monday and Tuesday, and maritime activities had been suspended. It said the 169 shelters could hold 33,192 people; that is their capacity, not a count of evacuees or people already sheltered.²

The flooding had also turned deadly in Jalisco, far from the forecast Baja landfall. N+ reported that a rain-swollen river swept away a family’s home in La Cuesta. Two children, aged three and 12, and their mother were found dead; their father remained missing in the outlet’s latest update.³

Footnotes

1. National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Polo Public Advisory No. 31 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Government of Baja California Sur, preventive measures for Hurricane Polo ↩ ↩²

3. N+, report on the family swept away by the river in Talpa ↩