Powerful Hurricane Polo roars ashore in Mexico with life-threatening conditions
Polo's time at sea has come to an end as the once 180-mph Category 5 hurricane makes its second and final landfall in northwestern Mexico.
Hurricane hunters battled harsh conditions and powerful winds from Category 3 Hurricane Polo during a flyover mission on Sept. 26.
Hurricane Polo has made two landfalls in northwestern Mexico, late Monday night and again late Tuesday morning, say AccuWeather meteorologists. It will remain a dangerous hurricane despite losing wind intensity, with significant storm surge, damaging winds and tremendous rainfall.
This image of Hurricane Polo approaching Baja California Sur, Mexico, captured on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AccuWeather RealVue™ Satellite)
In the past week, Polo's winds reached 180 mph on two separate occasions, which is extremely rare for a tropical cyclone in any basin on the planet. The storm strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just 24 hours last week.
A few hours later, its winds peaked at 180 mph, placing it alongside hurricanes such as Rick (2009), with peak winds of 180 mph; Linda (1997) at 185 mph and Patricia (2015) at 215 mph. On this past Friday, Polo again reached 180 mph and maintained that intensity for several hours.
Polo gradually lost wind intensity as it moved over cooler water, and made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane late Monday night in Baja California Sur, Mexico. However, because the hurricane will still contain considerable energy as it moves over the peninsula, the risk to lives and property can be significant, with direct impacts within 50-100 miles.
As of late midday Tuesday, local time, Polo was a Category 1 hurricane after making another landfall near Guaymas in the Mexican state of Sonora.
The AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes in Mexico is a 3. This scale, developed by AccuWeather, accounts for impacts from flooding rain, storm surge, mudslides, risk to lives and economic loss, along with wind damage.
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale only accounts for the wind intensity of a storm.
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Through late Tuesday, a storm surge of 1-3 feet is forecast near and just south of where the eye moved ashore. Large breakers will occur on top of the storm surge along the immediate coast, which can add to the life-threatening conditions, inundation and damage.
Well away from the center of Polo, large swells will spread outward and reach coastal areas along much of the Mexico coast in the form of large breakers that can pose dangers to swimmers, small fishing boats and beachfront dwellings.
Powerful winds will blast the Mexican mainland, including the Ciudad Obregón area, through Tuesday night. Wind gusts of 80-100 mph will bring the risk of power outages and tree and property damage; the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust is 125 mph.
As Polo gradually unwinds and presses inland, heavy rain will become the main risk to lives and property through midweek.
Along the path of Polo, a general 2-8 inches of rain is forecast to fall, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 18 inches. Rain may pour down at several inches per hour in some places. Where this occurs in steep terrain or metro areas, dangerous flash flooding can occur, along with mudslides and other debris flows.
Even though Polo is likely to be degraded to a tropical depression and rainstorm as it moves over the rugged terrain of the Sierra Madre Occidental, some circulation may persist into parts of Texas during the middle of the week.
Around the same time that what is left of Polo enters the United States, a large non-tropical storm will be sweeping eastward from the Great Basin and the Rockies. "As the two features combine, perhaps into a massive hybrid storm system, areas of beneficial rain and flash flooding are likely to unfold," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyssa Glenny said.
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