Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.
It was centered 205 miles south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and crawling north at just 2 mph. The hurricane center said it would send an aircraft into the storm to investigate.
Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes in a number of areas along the Pacific Coast as Polo brushed along the coastline. Many residents of the region were on edge this week watching the rapidly intensifying hurricane plow by. In recent years, the Pacific coastal states of Guerrero and Oaxaca have been ravaged by powerful hurricanes walloping the coast, with a number of communities still picking up the pieces.
Heavy rain could produce flash flooding and mudslides. About 3 to 6 inches of rain was forecast for Guerrero and Michoacán states, with smaller amounts possible for coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states.
On the forecast track, Polo was expected to remain offshore. Tropical-storm-force winds and rough surf generated by Polo could also affect the coast.
