Hurricane Polo makes landfall on Mexico’s Baja California

The Mexican weather service Conagua said on X that the storm struck near the town of Las Barrancas around midnight (0700 GMT) as a Category 2 hurricane.

Authorities had urged residents to seek safety and follow civil protection instructions, warning of “life-threatening winds,” flash floods and heavy rainfall.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm would cross the peninsula from west to east and reach the Mexican mainland in a somewhat weakened state by morning.

Before Polo made landfall, the hurricane already caused severe damage in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. Local civil protection authorities said at least two people were killed and three others were reported missing following heavy rainfall and landslides.

The storm at one point intensified to the highest Category 5 off Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Further flooding was forecast for parts of the states of Baja California Sur and Sonora due to expected rainfall levels.

The particularly strong El Niño climate phenomenon is driving an unusual hurricane season this year.

While nine hurricanes have already formed in the Pacific — three of them reaching the highest Category 5 — not a single hurricane has developed in the Atlantic. The hurricane season ends on November 1.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Nolo caused flooding in parts of Hawaii over the weekend.

The storm was rated a Category 4 hurricane on Monday and was expected to approach the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – a vast marine protected area to the northwest of Hawaii’s main islands – on Tuesday. It is not expected to make landfall on the main islands.

Tropical Storm Rachel has also formed off the southern Mexican Pacific coast. The NHC said Rachel is expected to continue gaining strength, reach hurricane force on Wednesday and track over the sea along the coast.