Hurricane Polo re-strengthens to Category 5, forecast to make landfall in Baja California Sur on Monday

Hurricane Polo has re-strengthened to a Category 5 storm and is now forecast to make landfall in Baja California Sur on Monday, the National Hurricane Center said, in a sharp change from earlier forecasts that kept the storm offshore.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds reached 180 mph with higher gusts on Friday, after the centre sat about 320 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes and moved west at around 10 mph. Forecasters expect a gradual turn on Saturday, then a northward swing on Sunday, USA Today reported, citing the hurricane centre’s advisories.

After landfall, Polo is expected to move over northern Mexico and eventually into New Mexico and Texas as a disintegrating, post-tropical depression by 30 September. Swells generated by the storm will bring life-threatening surf, rip currents and coastal flooding to southwestern Mexico before spreading north to west-central Mexico and Baja California Sur through the weekend.

Mexico’s national weather service (SMN) said Polo would bring heavy to intense rainfall to 17 of the country’s 32 states on Saturday, with 75 to 150 millimetres forecast in parts of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz, where rivers could rise and trigger landslides and flooding, Telesur reported.

The US Embassy in Mexico warned American tourists about the danger of staying for the storm and advised them to listen to local media and follow the directions of local officials, the New York Post reported. NOAA forecasters said coastal watches for Baja California could be issued as soon as Saturday, according to Reuters.

The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center has extended excessive-rainfall warnings as Polo’s remnants are expected to be absorbed into another weather system early next week. “That is a big concern to us, especially by Tuesday and into Wednesday,” forecaster Brian Hurley told USA Today. New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are all forecast to receive rain.

Sources

• USA Today — Track path of eye-popping Category 5 Hurricane Polo as it strengthens: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2026/09/25/hurricane-polo-path-tracker-forecast-spaghetti-models/91934944007/
• New York Post — Colossal hurricane explodes back into Cat-5 monster as wind speeds ramp up and it heads toward US: https://nypost.com/2026/09/25/us-news/colossal-hurricane-explodes-back-into-cat-5-monster-as-wind-speeds-ramp-up-and-it-heads-toward-us/
• Telesur English — Hurricane Polo to bring heavy rain to 17 Mexican states: https://www.telesurenglish.net/hurricane-polo-heavy-rain-mexican-states/