Hurricane Polo intensified into a Category 5 storm in the Pacific off southwestern Mexico on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, with maximum winds of 180 mph, and is expected to remain “extremely dangerous” over the coming days, according to the National Hurricane Center, as cited by the Los Angeles Times.

The center issued tropical storm warnings for portions of Mexico’s coast, with risks of heavy rainfall, flooding and mudslides through Thursday, September 24, 2026. Polo is the 16th named storm of the eastern Pacific season, in a year when El Niño is forecast to be the strongest in at least a generation; in California, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency on Monday, September 21, 2026, to prepare the state for high surf and winter storms, with the immediate concern being high tides coinciding with heavy swell next Monday, September 28, 2026, and the following day.