MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Polo has grown into one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones in decades, and it was expected to skirt Mexico’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 storm.
Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (265 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Tuesday night.
Polo was centered 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and nearly stationary over the Pacific Ocean. The hurricane center said Polo was expected to start a slow but sharp turn northwest during the night and then travel in a generally west-northwestward direction over the next several days.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said experts indicated that the hurricane was not likely to touch land. Still, the NHC said hurricane-force winds are happening up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the storm's center and tropical storm-force winds up to 105 miles (169 kilometers) away.
The hurricane set residents along Mexico's Pacific coast on edge once again after being walloped by powerful cyclones a number of times in recent years. Beaches emptied out and dark clouds swirled above choppy seas, while Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes Tuesday in a number of areas. Mexico’s navy shut down ports in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán and warned civilians and fishermen to take care.
Concepción López Villegas was busily preparing her seaside restaurant for what may come. Strong waves were already lapping at the coastline of her city Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán. As men and children watched the stirring waters behind her, López Villegas said she feared powerful waves would destroy the small business she has worked decades to build.
“We're worried and trying to protect our businesses,” López Villegas said. “And of course, we're sad because it's our heritage, our legacy that from one moment to another could be destroyed.”
National Hurricane Center data shows that Polo has reached speeds comparable to only a few hurricanes to form in the region in recent decades, primarily Hurricane Patricia, which reached 215 mph (346 kph) in 2015.
“This is one of the strongest storms ever in the (Pacific) Basin,” said Kristen L. Corbosiero, professor at the University at Albany’s Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences.
The NHC warned that tropical storm conditions were expected along the Pacific coast in Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima states.
Heavy rain could produce flash flooding and mudslides. About 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain was forecast for Guerrero and Michoacán states, with smaller amounts possible for coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a weather alert, instructing citizens to avoid water and beaches and to heed warnings from Mexican authorities.
“Even if the storm does not make direct landfall, heavy rain may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Hazardous ocean conditions—intensified by storms—may result in deadly rip currents and rogue waves,” the embassy wrote in a statement.
The rapid intensification of the storm has stunned scientists and authorities alike, with the NHC writing in a report that it was “truly remarkable” how quickly Polo gained strength in the past 24 hours.
Philip Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, attributed the intensification to the weather phenomenon known as El Niño, which has fueled crippling droughts in Mexico and Central America and floods in other parts of the region.
In the Pacific, it has resulted in warmer waters and wind patterns that act as fodder for hurricanes, he said.
“There are all the ingredients that hurricanes need to get really strong really fast,” Klotzbach said.
Polo is the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year. Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that a storm has maximum sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (253 kph).
No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year, and this year has set a record for the longest start to a season without a hurricane. The effects of this year’s El Niño crush storms before they get going.
Brooks reported from Atlanta.
This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo strengthening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo intensifying in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
DENVER (AP) — During a mound visit in the top of the first inning with the Colorado Rockies already trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks by two runs, a lone voice of encouragement emerged from an otherwise restless and murmuring crowd at Coors Field.
“Let’s go, Rockies!” a fan shouted Tuesday from section 130, just behind home plate in the lower bowl.
It was one of the few cheers the Rockies would receive on a night they reached an ignominious historical mark.
Behind three hits from former Rockies All-Star Nolan Arenado and seven innings of two-hit ball from Michael Soroka, the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 7-2 to guarantee Colorado its fourth straight season with at least 100 losses in front of an announced crowd of 19,324 (along with an estimated 800 dogs on one of Rockies’ Bark at the Park nights).
The Rockies became just the fifth club in major league history to lose at least 100 games in four consecutive seasons and the first to do so since the New York Mets in their expansion season of 1962 through 1965.
“You learn your hardest lessons in difficulty in life,” said Warren Schaeffer, in his first season as Colorado’s full-time manager. “This is not easy. Last year, we talked about it at the end of the year, how we want to feel this and never feel it again and remember it and hold on to it. The guys have done that. We’ve just lost 100 again. There are a ton of lessons to learn from it. If we don’t learn these lessons from these games this year, we won’t get better.”
It’s the latest low for a franchise that has made the playoffs just twice since 2010 and hasn’t won a playoff series since a memorable run to the World Series in 2007. Since the start of the 2023 season, the Rockies are a major league-worst 220-423, 23 games worse than the next-closest team (the Chicago White Sox).
“I’ve been a part of those here when I was here,” Arenado said. “With the young group that they have, sometimes, this is just a part of it. You’re going to go through some tough times. But I think from their offense and some of their bullpen guys, they’ve got some real arms and they’ve got some really good hitters. As they continue to grow, I think that’s going to change.”
For much of the season, it looked as if Colorado would avoid 100 losses. On Aug. 16, the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 13-7 for their fourth win in five games, improving to 50-74. Since then, however, Colorado has gone 7-26, including 2-13 in its past 15 games.
Some of their struggles remain familiar.
As it has for much of its history, an organization tasked with playing baseball a mile above sea level has struggled keeping opponents off the board. Entering Tuesday, the Rockies had a team ERA of 5.57, the highest mark in the majors. Colorado has finished with the highest team ERA every season since 2022 and if it does so again this year, it will become only the third club since 1913 to have the worst ERA in the majors in five consecutive seasons.
The Rockies also compete in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time reigning World Series champions, and the San Diego Padres, who are on the verge of their fifth postseason appearance in the past seven seasons. This season, Colorado went a combined 5-21 against the Dodgers and Padres.
The Rockies did improve this year after losing a franchise-record 119 games last season. Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield entered Tuesday fifth in the National League with a .300 batting average and led all qualified rookies in batting average and on-base percentage. Hunter Goodman, Colorado’s 26-year-old catcher, was an All-Star for a second consecutive season and is one home run shy of becoming the first Rockies player with 40 homers in a season since 2019.
"I think everything we’re doing inside this clubhouse — coaches, players, front office, all staff — has been doing an incredible job to make sure that this team and this org is heading in the direction that is winning,” said Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, a Denver native who is in his 10th season with the club. “You see it.”
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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland is hugged as he returns to the dugout after being pulled from the mound in the fourth inning of a baseball game againstt he Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland, center, hands the ball as he is pulled from the mound to manager Warren Schaeffer, front left, as catcher Hunter Goodman, back left, and first baseman TJ Rumfield look on in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
