'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Polo intensifies to rare category 5 storm
Hurricane Polo has intensified into a rare Category 5 storm off the coast of Mexico, fueled by unusually warm waters linked to El Niño. While the storm is not expected to make direct landfall, it is forecast to bring dangerous flooding and life-threatening surf to the country's southwestern coast.
Why it matters
The rapid intensification of major storms highlights the increasing risks posed by climate change and extreme weather patterns to coastal populations.
Image source, CSU/CIRA & NOAA/Handout via REUTERS By Brandon Livesay Published 1 hour ago Hurricane Polo has rapidly intensified off the coast of Mexico to become one of the most powerful storms of the season in the Pacific Ocean.
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.
NOAA's Miami-based National Hurricane Center called the storm "extremely dangerous" and said its intensification over 24 hours was "truly remarkable".
The slow-moving storm is fuelling up on extremely warm waters caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon and is the season's third category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The storm is predicted to skirt the coast of south-western Mexico, but is not expected to make landfall, a warning from NOAA said.
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