Heavy surf and rain battered southwestern Mexico on Thursday as Hurricane Polo moved slowly northwest offshore, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center describing the storm as extremely powerful.

Polo had maximum sustained winds of about 155 miles per hour (250 kph), making it a Category 4 hurricane after previously reaching Category 5, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The National Hurricane Center said Polo could strengthen in the short term and was expected to remain a major hurricane for the next several days.

AccuWeather forecast that Polo could make landfall late Sunday night into Monday and weaken to a Category 2 hurricane as it moves across the Baja California peninsula north of Cabo San Lucas. Local authorities there have already restricted access to beaches and closed the harbor.

The hurricane’s outer rainbands were spreading inland and producing heavy rainfall, while tropical-storm-force winds were likely affecting parts of the southwestern Mexican coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Polo’s hurricane-force winds extended up to 40 miles (65 km) from the storm’s center, while tropical-storm-force winds extended as far as 125 miles (205 km).

The National Hurricane Center forecast additional rainfall of 2 to 4 inches (50.8 to 101.6 mm), with isolated totals of up to 6 inches, across coastal parts of Michoacan, Colima, northern and southern Jalisco, and Nayarit.

The agency warned that large swells generated by the storm could produce life-threatening surf, rip currents and coastal flooding along affected coastlines.

AccuWeather hurricane expert Nicholas Arman said the storm could also draw moisture toward Texas if it follows its projected path. He described the potential moisture flow as consistent with the effects of strong tropical development in the Pacific during an El Niño pattern.

However, how much rain and moisture reaches Texas will depend partly on whether Polo can cross the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico. Arman said the mountains could weaken and disrupt the storm system before it reaches areas farther north.

SOURCE: Reuters, Paolo Laudani, September 24, 2026.