'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Polo intensifies to rare category 5 storm
Hurricane Polo has intensified into a powerful storm off the coast of Mexico, fueled by record-breaking ocean temperatures linked to El Niño. While it has been downgraded from category 5 to 4, it continues to pose a significant threat of flooding and mudslides for coastal regions.
Why it matters
The storm highlights the increasing intensity of extreme weather events driven by climate change and the ongoing risks to coastal infrastructure and populations.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Brandon Livesay CSU/CIRA & NOAA/Handout via REUTERS Hurricane Polo, a large storm off the coast of Mexico, has been downgraded to category 4 but remains "very powerful", the US National Hurricane Center said.
The Pacific hurricane, one of the strongest of the season, was projected to head towards the coast of south-western Mexico, bringing intense wind and rain, though was not expected to make landfall.
A Hurricane Hunter aircraft, operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), flew into the storm on Tuesday and recorded sustained wind speeds near 180 mph (285 km/h), with stronger gusts.
The slow-moving storm is being fuelled by extremely warm waters caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon.
It was previously a category 5 storm - the highest level on the scale - but was downgraded to category 4 on Wednesday morning.
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