Polo off Mexican coast is among 'the strongest storms ever' – PBS

Polo off Mexican coast is among ‘the strongest storms ever’  PBS

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami has called Polo an “extremely dangerous” storm and forecast the system would turn sharply to the northwest before moving west-northwest over the next several days. MEXICO CITY (AP) — Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades and was expected to skirt Mexico's southwestern coast as a major hurricane, while another Pacific system, Odalys, strengthened Wednesday from a tropical storm to a hurricane without threatening land. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami has called Polo an "extremely dangerous" storm and forecast the system would turn sharply to the northwest before moving west-northwest over the next several days.

Polo was about 165 miles (266 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo and 320 miles (515 kilometers) southeast of Manzanillo, the center reported. It was moving slowly north with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph). That put it at Category 4 strength, after earlier being a Category 5 storm. "Fluctuations in intensity are expected, but Polo is expected to remain a very powerful major hurricane during the next few days," the NHC said. Odalys was a Category 1 hurricane and was about 1,295 miles (2,085 kilometers) off the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, moving east-northeast at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 75