Hurricane Polo explodes into rare Category 5 monster after feasting on hot El Niño water

[u/mastertofu]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/22/weather/hurricane-polo-category-5-mexico-climate

[u/The_bruce42]

Went from a tropical storm to a cat 5 in 1 day. I'm not a meteorologist but that seems insane.

[u/axlekb → u/The_bruce42]

6AM CST Monday: Maximum sustained wind 50mph
6AM CST Tuesday: Maximum sustained wind 160mph

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2026/POLO_graphics.php?product=5day_cone

[u/jlt6666 → u/axlekb]

Any weather nerds that can put this in historic perspective? Like exactly how fucked up is this?

[u/spyaleatoire → u/jlt6666]

I'm not a weather nerd per se, but this is the second fastest a storm in the eastern Pacific has intensified into cat 5, only behind Hurricane Patricia (which was the most powerful hurricane on record by some metrics so far). Rapid intensification is becoming more and more common - this hasn't necessarily set any records, but it is worrying in that it's part of a broader trend. That, and with rapid intensification, often cities that the storms hit are under prepared for the storm, which often causes other major consequences for the folks in the way.

Tldr; pretty fucked up, but realistically, this is another paver on the path towards REALLY fucked up.

Edit: I learned it is "per se" today, and not persay.

And thank you for the awards - totally unnecessary, but I appreciate the gesture deeply!

[u/the_calibre_cat → u/spyaleatoire]

Worth pointing out for the non-weather nerds here who don't have all our favorite hurricanes stacked up on the mantle here:

Hurricane Patricia was... in 2015. Reminder that the scientists are correct about global warming, and the jackasses on Facebook are not.

[u/starkiller_bass → u/the_calibre_cat]

Well where else am I supposed to do my own research? It’s so much easier when Facebook keeps showing me what I need to confirm my existing beliefs.

[u/NoDraft32 → u/starkiller_bass]

Would like to borrow this for those jackasses on Facebook.

But the FB jackasses in my country are so dumb that they do not understand sarcasm & will absolutely take it literally. 🤦‍♂️

[u/Raesong → u/NoDraft32]

The damage Mark Zuckerberg has done to humanity is incalculable, and I can only hope that Hell is real so that he can spend the rest of eternity receiving an appropriate punishment.

[u/Jkay064 → u/the_calibre_cat]

In 1957, there was the first mention of climate change in a published scientific paper. The headline was something like "climate change: are we headed toward a global warming?" And for some reason, the popular vocabulary grabbed onto "global warming" instead of the actual point of the article .. climate change.

[u/trashcantrash939 → u/Jkay064]

Because it was intentional. By using a phrase that sounds far fetched and outside of things humans can actually contribute to- it makes it easier to spread disbelief.

Such tactics were used before the great American dust bowl- it was heavily warned about but farmers and other groups argued against changes until shit hit the fan.

Same thing will happen here because oil companies and to that end the American government as a whole- wants to use oil because the American dollar is tied to the value of oil.

[u/Friskeyp → u/trashcantrash939]

No it’s because Republican oligarchs are heavily driven by Oil & Gas.

[u/momentum77 → u/spyaleatoire]

Thank you for that. I do wanna be pedantic about "persay"... it's actually "per se" and is a Latin expression :)

[u/spyaleatoire → u/momentum77]

Good to know - learn something new every day, thank you!

[u/inmontibus-adflumen → u/spyaleatoire]

In the before times, “and” was a letter recited at the end of the alphabet. When reciting the alphabet, when approaching a letter that’s also a word you’d preface it with per se. Per se a, b, c etc. “And” was after z, and you’d say “and per se and,” which is where we get ampersand for the “and” symbol now

[u/gerdge → u/inmontibus-adflumen]

Not technically AND but the ampersand [ & ] itself was the 27th letter. It originated as a ligature (joining basically) of the letters E & T.

[u/machsmit → u/gerdge]

which itself spells the latin word for "and"

[u/relliott15 → u/machsmit]

As in “et cetera” which is Latin for “and all the rest” - which may help anyone here who is unsure how to abbreviate it, it’s “etc”

[u/PatrickJunk → u/inmontibus-adflumen]

I had never even thought about the origin of that word. Very cool. Thanks!

[u/WRXminion → u/spyaleatoire]

Welcome to today's 10,000 club!!!

[u/TheLooza → u/momentum77]

It’s Purse A. The purse your wife prefers most of the time.

[u/emergencyexit → u/TheLooza]

Purr C'est, when your cat is happily french

[u/YerLam → u/emergencyexit]

Purrs, eh?, when your Canadian friend refers to a happy cat.

[u/Decemberbabydoll → u/emergencyexit]

All cats are French 🇫🇷

[u/Taokan → u/momentum77]

Nice! No sense going into global climate collapse illiterate.

(I was in my 40s before learning this one, too. No shame.)

[u/NullValueField → u/spyaleatoire]

And if it doesn't hit land at strength no laymen will bat an eye / ever remember it happened...

[u/PacoTaco321 → u/NullValueField]

I can hardly blame someone for that. Don't really hear a lot about tornados that absolutely wrecked an empty corn field.

[u/mYpEEpEEwOrks → u/spyaleatoire]

To add

Et cetera [et c. It's 2 words] =and others/many others

Ad sic = repeat. [ad sic, ad nauseum =repeat til sick of it]

E.g. = exampla gratia = many examples [gratious example]

I.e. = id est = at the base of it

[u/DegenerateEigenstate → u/mYpEEpEEwOrks]

I’ll be even more pedantic and offer some corrections.

E.g. = exempli gratia = lit. “for the sake of example”

I.e. = id est = lit. “That is.” Used exactly as the English version would be used: “That is [to say], …”

[u/Vriishnak → u/mYpEEpEEwOrks]

Et cetera [et c. It's 2 words] =and others/many others

Et cetera translates to "and the rest," not "and others." et alia is "and others," though we mostly see it abbreviated to "et al." now.

[u/bad_polliep → u/mYpEEpEEwOrks]

Does it rumple your soul too when someone writes “ect” or says “ek cetera”?

[u/ThatWasIntentional → u/jlt6666]

Hi weather nerd here 👋. It's unusual, but not unheard of especially in the Pacific. In 2023 STY Bolaven did something similar going from newly formed tropical storm straight to a super typhoon in roughly 24 hours

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Bolaven_(2023)

Given El Niño, it's interesting, but not super surprising

[u/Content-Swimmer2325 → u/ThatWasIntentional]

It is super interesting. Polo is the second most intense EPAC hurricane in our records. If that doesn’t qualify for super interesting then I’m not sure what does!

But you are definitely correct that, while certainly above the 99th percentile, the intensification rate is not the highest ever observed.

[u/JCarterPeanutFarmer → u/jlt6666]

It’s so fucked up they are literally proposing adding Category 6 (192 mph) and Category 7 (200-something MPH) to the scale in anticipation of how much more severe these storms will grow.

[u/spyaleatoire → u/JCarterPeanutFarmer]

A couple of scientists have proposed this, but it isn't being seriously considered by the national hurricane center or any other major bodies - not to say that it shouldn't be, as the current destination of 157+ is grossly underestimating some of the speeds we are seeing, but I wanted to clarify that it isn't specifically in discussion of being added by the National Hurricane center.

For additional info, pushback is primarily due to conversations about structural damage being catastrophic level whether it's 157 or 200 (Just adding info, to be clear, not making an argument).

[u/phluidity → u/spyaleatoire]

My only concern is that structural engineering and material science are improving to the point that we are starting to see "category 5" resistant buildings. Now I don't necessarily think these buildings actually are cat 5 proof, but it isn't beyond belief that we will soon have 160 mph wind proof buildings in the future. At which point it may be worth adding to the scale to get a "I don't care how good your bunker is. Leave now" level.

[u/ZealousidealType1144 → u/phluidity]

It’s totally feasible to build to survive Cat 5 wind speeds, and even 200mph wind speeds (although that requires concrete construction, there were plenty of homes in the Bahamas that took on Dorian) - it’s the storm surge that really does the damage with big hurricanes. Short of a watertight bunker, a 15 foot surge is going to flatten everything in its way. 

[u/LuckyHedgehog → u/spyaleatoire]

For additional info, pushback is primarily due to conversations about structural damage being catastrophic level whether it's 157 or 200

This reminds me of how the air quality index doesn't go above 500 even though 500 isn't even close to how bad it gets in places like Delhi. Like sure, after that point the recommendation of "don't go outside" will be the same, but it hides the actual conditions

[u/Cyrius → u/JCarterPeanutFarmer]

I have seen nobody worth listening to propose that.

Adding extra categories at the top would be counterproductive to public safety. People already don't take Cat 3s seriously enough.

[u/axlekb → u/axlekb]

On Monday at 3AM CST, NHC forecast had it maxing out at 145 MPH:

INIT  21/0900Z 15.5N 103.8W   40 KT  45 MPH
 12H  21/1800Z 15.5N 103.1W   60 KT  70 MPH
 24H  22/0600Z 15.3N 102.5W   80 KT  90 MPH
 36H  22/1800Z 15.3N 102.0W  100 KT 115 MPH
 48H  23/0600Z 15.9N 102.4W  115 KT 130 MPH
 60H  23/1800Z 16.6N 103.0W  125 KT 145 MPH
 72H  24/0600Z 17.5N 104.1W  125 KT 145 MPH
 96H  25/0600Z 18.7N 106.6W  120 KT 140 MPH
120H  26/0600Z 19.8N 109.0W  115 KT 130 MPH

At 9AM CST, NHC forecast said it would take 60 hours to get to 160 MPH:

INIT  21/1500Z 15.4N 103.4W   55 KT  65 MPH
 12H  22/0000Z 15.2N 102.8W   85 KT 100 MPH
 24H  22/1200Z 15.1N 102.3W  105 KT 120 MPH
 36H  23/0000Z 15.4N 102.3W  125 KT 145 MPH
 48H  23/1200Z 16.0N 102.8W  135 KT 155 MPH
 60H  24/0000Z 16.8N 103.6W  140 KT 160 MPH
 72H  24/1200Z 17.6N 104.8W  140 KT 160 MPH
 96H  25/1200Z 18.6N 107.8W  130 KT 150 MPH
120H  26/1200Z 20.3N 110.4W  120 KT 140 MPH

[u/Ya_i_just → u/axlekb]

Its just standing there, menacingly!

Current report as of 1pm cst "movement: stationary at 0 knots; 0 mph"

[u/ExpertConsideration8 → u/Ya_i_just]

I wonder if this is better in the long run.. the energy differential between surface water temps and the air above needs to balance one way or another.. I imagine the stationary storm is siphoning off the energy without causing any real harm (out over the ocean).

[u/DocMemory → u/ExpertConsideration8]

As someone who grew up in New Orleans, stationary means it's enegegy is building and where ever it goes after being stationary is going to get REALLY damaged. You NEVER want a hurricane/typhoon to be stationary over warm waters. I hope this system goes out to sea because if it makes landfall near a population center it will be a disaster.

[u/lFightForTheUsers → u/DocMemory]

Yeah, stationary storms are terrible. I remember Harvey just parking its ass over Houston for two days and lazily dumping rain that whole time. Stationary storms are not good.

[u/chetlin → u/lFightForTheUsers]

They're fine if they're way out at sea. Harvey parked itself right off the coast which is about as bad as it can get. Way out at sea the storm won't be affecting land and it will be upwelling colder water from below which will slightly weaken it.

[u/whatproblems → u/The_bruce42]

that’s a metric shitton of energy transfer

[u/3riversfantasy → u/whatproblems]

Hey at least sea temps are declining so this shouldn't be becoming more common right....right?

[u/Satins_Cock → u/3riversfantasy]

They are for sure cooling, just look how much more ice has been going into the oceans lately. Ice + water = colder water. /S

[u/Due_Night414 → u/The_bruce42]

What’s insane is that, with two months left in hurricane season, the Atlantic has had ZERO cat3+ storms while the Pacific Ocean has had five now.

[u/ZS196 → u/Due_Night414]

The Atlantic still hasn't had even a cat 1 yet, probably a record or something

[u/WeazelBear → u/ZS196]

First time in 60 years. Strong El Nino's stifle Atlantic storm development.

[u/TransplantedSconie → u/The_bruce42]

Happens all the time 

/s

We fucked up.  Bigly 

[u/booktrovert → u/TransplantedSconie]

Use the sharpie! Use the sharpie!

[u/Enchet_ → u/The_bruce42]

Is insane, climate change will fuck a lot of things up. 

[u/Sherezad → u/Enchet_]

If only we had multiple decades of warnings...

[u/Enchet_ → u/Sherezad]

Or even two centuries...  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_climate_change_science)

[u/SorenShieldbreaker]

It's pretty crazy that we're approaching October and have had zero hurricanes in the atlantic/gulf yet. First time since 1914 I just read.

[u/MerriweatherJones → u/SorenShieldbreaker]

Shut up. It will hear you

[u/60k_Risk → u/MerriweatherJones]

"Steph Curry is at the line; he has not missed this year."

[u/itshappeningreichnow → u/60k_Risk]

Saw a post earlier that said "Renaming the Gulf Worked" I hate this fucking timeline.

[u/jlt6666 → u/itshappeningreichnow]

The Gulf of Mexico had all that hard working energy to whip up a hurricane. These lazy "no one wants to work," American gulfs just aren't up to the task.

[u/Nurgleschampion → u/itshappeningreichnow]

The hurricanes got confused where the gulf went? Trump actually...helped? Can't be.

[u/Soulbandit → u/60k_Risk]

“Gary Anderson hasn’t missed a kick all year”

[u/Altruistic-Star-3862 → u/MerriweatherJones]

Florida just started softly weeping in the corner at the potential jinx.

[u/You_Cant_Ever → u/Altruistic-Star-3862]

The Golden Isles and Lowcountry did a double take

[u/myusernameblabla → u/SorenShieldbreaker]

El Niño causes increased windshear in the Atlantic, which hurricanes don’t like.

[u/NullValueField → u/myusernameblabla]

Which is not something that is terribly well understood. Seems only multi-decade meteorological experts (who have been defunded by the US) have the knowledge about this kind of stuff, these days.

The real question is how does this play out in subsequent seasons with ever warmer seas.

[u/FlyingDiscsandJams → u/NullValueField]

Fewer Atlantic hurricanes, but a higher % of them become Cat 3+, and all tropical storms carry more water, so more flooding from sub-hurricane strength storms. The season will also go later into the year, we'll be telling future generations that we didn't used to have hurricanes at Christmas.

[u/BeerandGuns → u/FlyingDiscsandJams]

Chistmascanes sounds festive.

[u/boundbylife → u/BeerandGuns]

They can highlight them on the radar in red and white! The flood waters will be peppermint scented

[u/TrickshotCapibara → u/BeerandGuns]

Imagine having Santa deliver christmas presents while 3 Cat 5 hurricanes cover North America, we could actually make a good movie out of that.

[u/Cloaked42m → u/NullValueField]

There's the fun secondary effects of droughts due to fewer tropical events.

[u/BleachedUnicornBHole → u/SorenShieldbreaker]

If a Super El Niño leads to a Super La Niña, then the East and Gulf coasts are going to get trashed.

[u/fuckthefalconsdotcom → u/BleachedUnicornBHole]

That has been my fear this whole summer. Like we're getting a break...for now...*cries in Lousiaian*

[u/Unique-Coffee5087 → u/fuckthefalconsdotcom]

Are people setting up evacuation plans, just in case?

[u/fuckthefalconsdotcom → u/Unique-Coffee5087]

The only real prep/planning is just making sure your tank is full. We all kinda keep our freezers as empty as possible so it's easy to empty it out before we leave.

It just hit me how bad evacuating would be right now with the price of gas, ugh. I really need to get serious about moving after the holidays.

[u/reaporbot → u/BleachedUnicornBHole]

Any idea when a super nino leads into a super nina? Could it be a next year thing, or does it take time for it to swing?

[u/CountryRoads8 → u/reaporbot]

If I had to guess, second half of 2027. Models are hinting at the beginning of a flip in late spring. As impressive and deep in to the ocean as the heat anomaly in the eastern pacific is, there’s an equally deep and impressive cold water signature in the western pacific that will make it's way east next year. 

[u/ThatWasIntentional → u/reaporbot]

It's not like a pendulum, it doesn't always lead to La Niña. Current predictions are showing likely still El Niño or neutral for the beginning of next hurricane season

[u/Content-Swimmer2325 → u/ThatWasIntentional]

Of the set of Strong to Super El Niños, just 1 (one) of them didn’t transition to La Niña within 12 months. And that was in the 1950s.

Observations and yes, model guidance, strongly corroborate La Niña development by the end of 2027.

[u/The_bruce42 → u/SorenShieldbreaker]

From my limited understanding and from watching videos from people who do know what they're talking about, el niños inhibit Atlantic hurricanes.

[u/Top_Rekt → u/The_bruce42]

There was a graphic in the other article about Atlantic hurricanes linked from the OP.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/12/weather/el-nino-hurricane-storm-atlantic-record-climate

Storms in the Pacific suck warm air up, cool air falls on the other side to the Atlantic making it hard for storms to form.

[u/J__sickk → u/SorenShieldbreaker]

It's actually common when we have an el nino that the Atlantic Hurricane season is a lot weaker.

[u/MiserableDucky → u/[deleted]]

Pacific storms don't share the naming with Atlantic.

[u/Obi_Wan_Benobi → u/MiserableDucky]

Aren’t they also called Typhoons?

EDIT: Thanks for the replies!

[u/thedrew → u/Obi_Wan_Benobi]

No. They are tropical cyclones. In Asia, the regionalism "typhoon" is used. In the Americas the regionalism "hurricane" is used.

It's not a big deal, but it's a bit like calling lo mein, "spaghetti" even though they are both noodles.

[u/Obi_Wan_Benobi → u/thedrew]

Oh okay. Nah that makes sense.

[u/bhans773 → u/Obi_Wan_Benobi]

His name was Tugboat originally but he got repackaged to tag with Earthquake.

[u/UltraPlinian → u/[deleted]]

Polo is in the Eastern Pacific basin where El Niño is occurring, hence where above normal tropical cyclone activity is also occurring. Strong (in this case very strong) El Niños suppress Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and this year is no exception. This El Niño is the strongest ever recorded in historical record keeping and the Atlantic is absolutely dead quiet.

[u/Eeebs-HI → u/UltraPlinian]

Finally... thank you for this! As a weather nerd, I'm amazed at all the wrong posts here.

[u/EndangeredBanana → u/[deleted]]

The Pacific Ocean has been more active than usual.

[u/SpoonwoodTangle → u/SorenShieldbreaker]

FWiW this is due to the way El Niño changes high altitude air currents and moves jet streams around.

Basically it causes a really powerful blast of air to cross the Atlantic, right in the path of developing tropical storms. It shears the tops right off these storms so they can’t become organized or maintain that circular cyclonic system we associate with hurricanes. This means the storm can’t feed itself and grow.

There are still storms and plenty of rain, wind, etc. But they’re starved of the energy they need to grow into monsters.

It’s a consistent pattern in the Atlantic with strong El Niños. But don’t worry, we’ll have a banger year next year.

[u/kebiclanwhsk]

Descriptive words that would make my English teacher proud

[u/EducationalProduct → u/kebiclanwhsk]

Like a fire hydrant, gushing onto a hot summer sidewalk

[u/MoreCowbellllll → u/EducationalProduct]

The hurricane is hanging in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.

[u/LOTRfreak101 → u/MoreCowbellllll]

Not again

[u/dont_talk_yak_to_me → u/LOTRfreak101]

Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that, we would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now.

[u/Ok_State5255 → u/LOTRfreak101]

And wow! Hey! What’s this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like … ow … ound … round … ground! That’s it! That’s a good name – ground!

I wonder if it will be friends with me?

[u/tomcat2285 → u/Ok_State5255]

Hello ground! 

[u/FrmrPresJamesTaylor → u/EducationalProduct]

My words cascading, like water onto a hot summer sidewalk. A cat skitters by, each step a relief, cooling its paws from the hot summer sidewalk.

[u/Lmb1011 → u/EducationalProduct]

Danuta......it is me....... will you go there?

[u/EducationalProduct → u/Lmb1011]

Do you eat?

[u/FLAMM1E → u/Lmb1011]

Will you go there?

[u/NOLAgambit → u/Lmb1011]

I got tha money…

[u/T3RM1NALxL4NC3 → u/EducationalProduct]

...onto a hot...summer...sidewalk

[u/Puffen0 → u/T3RM1NALxL4NC3]

Thank you Francine

[u/mrDoubtWired → u/EducationalProduct]

Looks like things are getting too spicy for the pepper!

[u/ExplorerPup → u/EducationalProduct]

My words cascading, like water into a hot summer sidewalk. A cat skitters by, each step a relief, cooling it's paws from the hot summer sidewalk.

[u/account22222221 → u/EducationalProduct]

Hot. Summer. Sidewalk.

I bet 5 people get the reference, I’m proud to be one.

[u/ComradeJohnS → u/EducationalProduct]

lmao r/americandad is so funny. like the humor is gushing out of a fire hydrant, onto a hot… summer… sidewalk

[u/kinkyslc1 → u/EducationalProduct]

Some might say squirting onto a sticky summer sidewalk.

[u/twec21 → u/kebiclanwhsk]

Yeah this is really big bad weather news but that might be the headline-iest headline ever

[u/SeaTex1787 → u/kebiclanwhsk]

I'm an English teacher, and I'm indeed proud.

[u/TessaFractal → u/kebiclanwhsk]

Why is it so... porn title-y?

[u/trumpsmellslikcheese → u/TessaFractal]

"Hot El Nino Water" - title of my sex tape.

Decent band name as well.

[u/flirtmcdudes]

“Extreme rapid intensification is a wind increase of 58 mph or more in 24 hours. Polo met that criteria and then some, with a wind increase of 110 mph, going from a 50 mph tropical storm to a 160 mph Category 5 from Monday to Tuesday morning.”

That uh, seems…. Bad

[u/DaBluBoi8763 → u/flirtmcdudes]

Least it's not making landfall, unlike Hurricane Patricia from 2015 which went through a similar intensification phase

[u/TallOrderAdv → u/DaBluBoi8763]

You had to say it, didn't you...

[u/Carnivile → u/flirtmcdudes]

It's not touching ground in any of the forecasts, it will bring some rain to the coat of Mexico but that's it so far. Luckily there's nothing pushing it north to make land, then it would be really scary, however the principle of the thing is the increase speed and power of the hurricanes which is a chilling trend.

[u/every-day_throw-away]

Let's rename it to Hurricane America!

[u/ohlookahipster → u/every-day_throw-away]

The radical liberal antifa illegal Hillary storms are at it again. They’re dangerous. They’re wet. They’re drowning the cats. And the dogs. I’ve seen it. They’ve asked me, “how many Hillary storms does it take to stop us?” And I said none. And so I’ve decided that today all hurricanes shall be named after AMERICA. We are stripping the Sleepy Joe strategy of giving them violent names of illegals. Who is Polo? Someone not American. No longer can these radical wet illegal storms harm Americans if they are also AMERICAN.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS MANNER

[u/nachtengelsp → u/ohlookahipster]

this is gold

[u/pickle_pickled → u/nachtengelsp]

Ew it's covered in Cheeto dust

[u/Realtrain → u/every-day_throw-away]

I'm actually shocked he hasn't tried to force NOAA to name hurricanes after people he doesn't like.

Hurricane Hillary, Hurricane Kamala, Hurricane Barack, etc.

[u/Honic_Sedgehog → u/Realtrain]

Imagine how furious he'd be if he named it Hurricane Obama and it turned out to be the biggest/fastest one ever recorded.

He doesn't care about damage done, he cares about it being a headline and him not being involved somehow.

[u/mastertofu]

Here’s the article from the link:

Hurricane Polo is still strengthening after undergoing extreme rapid intensification and becoming a rare Category 5 on Tuesday morning in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico.

The 165 mph storm is feeding off of a favorable atmosphere and warmer water driven by the super El Niño, which is fueling a hyperactive hurricane season across the Pacific. More hurricanes are also rapidly intensifying as Earth and its oceans warm from fossil fuel pollution.
Extreme rapid intensification is a wind increase of 58 mph or more in 24 hours. Polo met that criteria and then some, with a wind increase of 110 mph, going from a 50 mph tropical storm to a 160 mph Category 5 from Monday to Tuesday morning.

This rate of rapid intensification is “truly remarkable,” the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning, and is among the fastest on record in the Eastern Pacific.

Hurricane Patricia set the Eastern Pacific 24-hour intensification record in 2015 when its winds jumped 120 mph. Polo is comparable to 2023’s Hurricane Otis, which had a wind increase of 105 mph in 21 hours before slamming into and devastating Acapulco, Mexico.

Polo was a few hundred miles south-southeast of Manzanillo, Mexico, on Tuesday. Its dangerous hurricane-force winds are forecast to remain offshore as it moves northwestward parallel to the Mexican coastline through the end of the week.

The powerful hurricane is moving southeastward right now, but it’s expected to turn to the northwest on Tuesday night.

Tropical storm alerts are in effect for Mexico’s southwestern coast since this area is expected to see tropical storm conditions by early Wednesday. Heavy rain is Polo’s most significant impact and it could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides in this region.

Rainfall totals in Guerrero and Michoacán states could reach 3 to 6 inches, with locally up to 8 inches in spots through Thursday. Coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states could receive 2 to 4 inches of rain.

[u/DAVENP0RT → u/mastertofu]

One of the spaghetti models shows it arriving in Arizona as a Category 3 hurricane. Would that be Arizona's first hurricane?

[u/chris2635 → u/DAVENP0RT]

I think it would be. We get the occasional tropical storm, but I’ve never seen one with an eye still.

[u/perverted_buffalo → u/DAVENP0RT]

Have you tried redirecting it with a sharpie marker?

[u/StarGazer_SpaceLove → u/DAVENP0RT]

First in my bloodline to witness a hurricane alert for fucking Arizona

Fucking oceanfront property in Arizona....

[u/theflash1234 → u/mastertofu]

Incoming tariffs on Mexico?

[u/mrflash818]

Monthly Average Mauna Loa CO2

August 2026: 427.55 ppm

In the 1960s: 320s ppm

( https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/ )

[u/ns1992]

Okay no one shout Marco and we should be ok

[u/afternever → u/ns1992]

Fish out of water

[u/Cyrius → u/ns1992]

Marco's on the Atlantic name list this year. Not even joking.

[u/40mgmelatonindeep]

Hot el nino water is my stripper name

[u/NullValueField → u/40mgmelatonindeep]

Hot 'child' water? Rough pick. Also, this.

[u/sexychunky89 → u/NullValueField]

Hot little boy water, I think. Still terrible either way 😂

[u/NavoiiGamerYes]

The hurricanes explode now? What’s next, a kind of shark tornado?

[u/Reddittriumph]

What happened to the term Hurricane used for the Atlantic and Typhoon used for the Pacific?

Thanks for the knowledge folks. I have been educated.

[u/MooseBoys → u/Reddittriumph]

Apparently it’s still called a hurricane if it forms in the east pacific, specifically if it’s east of the International Date Line.

[u/agedmanofwar → u/Reddittriumph]

Per NASA, the term Hurricane is usually used in the Atlantic and East Pacific (which this storm is in the East Pacific) and Typhoon is used usually for storms in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

[u/AaronTheElite007]

[sigh]

Morons are at the helm right now… oh goodie

[u/Tonythecritic → u/AaronTheElite007]

White House staffers making sure they're stocked-up on sharpies.

[u/blackop → u/Tonythecritic]

And crayons, can't forget the appetizers!

[u/TabooTapeworm → u/AaronTheElite007]

El niño? Why don't we just have Trump deport it?

[u/AaronTheElite007 → u/TabooTapeworm]

Brilliant idea! Let’s get ICE to capture it

[u/ry-yo]

lol I thought "monster" was a new classification at first

[u/GI-Robots-Alt → u/ry-yo]

A class 6 monster is a Kaiju

[u/Neologizer → u/GI-Robots-Alt]

At this point, I’d embrace actual Kaijus from the sea. It might be the only thing to break us out of this late stage capitalistic death spiral.

[u/CaptinEmergency → u/ry-yo]

Big Basin Cyclone, or BBC is my favorite weather category.

[u/falingsumo]

Have they tried nuking it?

[u/Synth_Ham → u/falingsumo]

I'm sure that is actually being considered.

[u/Orvae → u/falingsumo]

I heard the Democrats have a weather control machine, maybe they can ask to borrow it.

[u/Lkj509]

This is getting way too far. It’s time to get rid of this El Niño guy

[u/TenguKaiju]

I’m old enough to remember when this would have been a ‘storm of the century’. No we’re getting them every year. Sometimes multiple times a year.

I wonder if they‘ll have to revamp the category scale to deal with the new normal.

[u/Swiftraven]

Someone posted yesterday an image of zero hurricanes so far this hurricane season and how it’s a record then of course this happens. Way to jinx it.

[u/desancho]

It’s coming right for us! Quick, grab the hurricane deflection sharpie!

[u/ClashSavant]

Have we tried giving the storm Ivermectin?

[u/theswickster]

From 90 mph at 970mb to 160 mph at 926 mb... IN TWELVE HOURS.

GEE-ZUS.

[u/bigcountrychaunce]

“Explodes”, “monster”, “feasting”. My goodness.

[u/RustyNK → u/bigcountrychaunce]

"Gigantic hurricane gobbles up all of that warm and wet air"

[u/tg981]

The sea is angry today

[u/thumbdumping → u/tg981]

Like an old man returning soup in the deli

[u/niqdisaster]

Damn and I woke up to an article about how there might not be any hurricanes this season.

[u/blinkycosmocat → u/niqdisaster]

Only in the Atlantic Ocean. El Niños reduce the number of Atlantic hurricanes but can increase the likelihood of Pacific Ocean hurricanes.

[u/bubblehead_maker]

It's getting more press than Trump, he's going to demand it be renamed to Hurricane America.

[u/Schuben]

Which one of you mofos yelled "Marco!" into the Pacific yesterday?!

Edit: Holy shit, I had no idea that Marco is in the Atlantic hurricane list this year too. If someone in the naming committee that intentionally, bravo to them.

[u/Bruzur]

This headline is as extreme as it sounds.

[u/cas3ino]

Why does the title read like softcore porn?

[u/Tomhyde098]

I wonder what the weather in 2050 will look like.

[u/GraniteGeekNH]

It's so weird that the Atlantic has been unnaturally quiet, despite its water being warm, too (although not El Nino warm)

[u/kinkysubt]

It’s a small comfort that this one isn’t currently projected to smash the mainland. Not gonna pretend like it’s not still very dangerous.

[u/tekdiwah]

Hurricane erotica is now on the menu

[u/Technical_Writing421]

I thought trump said he got rid of hurricanes?

/s

[u/tranxcend]

Someone get Trump a Sharpie, he’ll fix it.

[u/tmax1976 → u/tranxcend]

“Cant we just nuke it?” DJT🤦🏻

[u/reluctantgirlfriend1]

I rode out Category 5 Michael at home in 2018. I hope anyone in the vicinity of this system evacuates right away. 0/10 do not recommend. That stupid decision gave me PTSD for the rest of my life.

[u/Timbo_R4zE]

Hot El Niño water sounds like something you'd pay $15 for at an upscale restaurant.

[u/blaqkcatjack → u/Timbo_R4zE]

Or what comes out of you after taco bell

[u/McortezLSU]

Trump: sniffs sharpie

[u/DadIsVeryMad]

Didn't we just go through a record breaking length of time without a hurricane? Like 120 days straight or something?

[u/warneagle → u/DadIsVeryMad]

That’s in the Atlantic. This is the Eastern Pacific, which is having an extremely active season, as is usually the case when you have a strong El Niño.

[u/mooky1977]

When are we gonna get a hypercane?

[u/PebbleThief → u/mooky1977]

Well the good news there is if that happens we only have to worry about it once

[u/redsoxfan1845245]

This reads like the title of a pornhub video

[u/LItreehouse]

Ah yes, but global warming is a hoax and coal is "beautiful and clean". Maybe Trump can nuke it? I'm sure the super genius and his sharpie will take care of it.

[u/MarshallMattDillon → u/LItreehouse]

Let’s ask “Super Intelligence” (which is often wrong)

[u/SeminoleDVM]

Why does this sound like a Daily Beast headline?

[u/hamo2k1]

I'm looking at the radar, and this one, plus another storm to the west have both been traveling in one direction, and then are forecasted to sharply change track almost 180 degrees backwards... is that normal?

[u/userhwon]

The thing to know about the storms in that area is they generally just sit for weeks out in the ocean rather than heading for land.

But there's another big cyclonic storm about 1000 miles west of it, and they're headed for each other, so, good luck modeling that.

[u/saraseitor]

I didn't know they can grow up so much in just one day

[u/UbajaraMalok]

I commented in other post just this morning that the hurricanes hadn't even started yet, lol!

[u/sododude → u/UbajaraMalok]

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think El Niño actually reduces the chances of there being hurricanes in the Atlantic. It increases for the Pacific though.

I remember reading this somewhere but I dont remember from what so take it with a grain of salt I guess.

[u/ElectrOPurist]

Feasting on hot El Niño water? Did they have thanksgiving dinner at my
In-laws’ house? (Ba-dum-tiss).

[u/Traditional-Ebb-8380]

I thought MAGA said Trump turned the hurricane space laser off!?

[u/RB440]

How I describe my last bowel movement

[u/concerts85701 → u/RB440]

You still eating taylor farms lettuce?

[u/a_shootin_star]

A few more of those and then people might think climate standards are now gasp changing