Hurricane Polo has rapidly intensified disconnected the seashore of Mexico to go 1 of the astir almighty storms of the play successful the Pacific Ocean.
A Hurricane Hunter aircraft, operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), flew into the tempest connected Tuesday and recorded sustained upwind speeds adjacent 180 mph (285 km/h), with stronger gusts.
NOAA's Miami-based National Hurricane Center called the tempest "extremely dangerous" and said its intensification implicit 24 hours was "truly remarkable".
The slow-moving tempest is fuelling up connected highly lukewarm waters caused by the El Niño clime improvement and is the season's 3rd class 5 storm, the highest level connected the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The tempest is predicted to skirt the seashore of south-western Mexico, but is not expected to marque landfall, a informing from NOAA said.
As it dilatory drifts northwest, Polo volition thrust torrential rainfall successful parts of Mexico's south-west seashore - which could pb to deadly flooding and mudslides, NOAA said.
Rainfall totals of up to 6in (15cm) are forecast, with 8in imaginable successful immoderate areas. Residents person besides been warned of ample water swells and life-threatening surf conditions for the adjacent fewer days.
"So far, the accusation we person is that (Polo) volition not marque a nonstop landfall connected the coast," Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said connected Tuesday, but she warned residents on the Pacific seashore to beryllium vigilant. Sheinbaum highlighted the states of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacan arsenic being astatine risk.
Data from the Hurricane Hunter craft indicated that Polo could inactive fortify and would apt enactment a class 5 tempest for the adjacent fewer days, due to the fact that of what NOAA called a "very conducive" situation of highly lukewarm water waters feeding the storm.
English (US)·