Hurricane Polo downgraded to Category 4 but remains 'very powerful'

Fueled by extremely warm Pacific waters from El Niño

Hurricane Polo weakened to a Category 4 storm off Mexico’s Pacific coast but remains “very powerful,” the US National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

The slow-moving system was projected to head toward the coast of southwestern Mexico while remaining at sea. Forecasters said Polo was not expected to make landfall, but warned that coastal areas would still face intense wind and rain as the storm tracks through the eastern Pacific.

Polo is one of the strongest Pacific hurricanes of the 2026 season.

The slow-moving storm is being fuelled by extremely warm waters caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon, according to BBC reporting.

BBC’s Courtney Sargent produced a video segment explaining how El Niño caused one of the most powerful storms of the season in the Pacific Ocean.