Hurricane Polo leaves two dead and three missing in Mexico as it nears Baja California

Fatalities and search operations in Jalisco

Torrential rains and rough seas generated by Hurricane Polo left at least two people dead and three others missing in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. Emergency responders in the municipality of Talpa de Allende recovered the bodies of two children, aged three and 12, in the rural community of La Cuesta. The victims were swept away alongside their parents when a sudden flash flood destroyed their family home during intense weekend downpours. State search teams discovered the children approximately 700 meters downstream from the residence. Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus deployed two state government helicopters on Sunday morning to support civil protection officers and firefighters searching on foot for the missing parents along the riverbed. In the coastal resort city of Puerto Vallarta, emergency crews used drones and jet skis to search for a 24-year-old tourist from San Luis Potosi who entered the sea on Saturday despite red warning flags prohibiting swimming and failed to return to shore. Saturday night rains also caused mudslides and landslides along several stretches of State Highway 555 between Talpa de Allende and Tomatlan.

Track and preparations in Baja California Sur

Polo maintained Category 3 strength on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale on Sunday evening, packing maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour. The United States National Hurricane Center located the storm center approximately 460 kilometers southwest of the tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas. Forecasters project the storm to track northwest across the Pacific toward the Baja California peninsula, with an expected landfall near the municipality of Mulege on Monday evening local time. Civil protection authorities directed coastal and inland residents to remain indoors, follow official instructions, and prepare for widespread disruptions as the cyclone crosses the peninsula from west to east. The incoming system is forecast to trigger intense precipitation, dangerous surf, and destructive flash flooding across Baja California Sur.

Concurrent tropical systems in the Pacific

Polo is not the only active weather system affecting the region. Over the preceding weekend, Hurricane Nolo passed near Hawaii, generating localized coastal flooding across parts of the island chain. Ten days prior to Nolo, Tropical Storm Lala caused widespread disruption in Hawaii, knocking out electrical power to more than 180,000 households after weakening from an initial hurricane into a tropical storm with sustained winds of nearly 105 kilometers per hour. Off the southern coast of mainland Mexico, a new Pacific system designated as Tropical Depression 18-E formed on Sunday. The National Hurricane Center forecasts that the system, named Rachel, will strengthen into a hurricane by Wednesday as it travels parallel to the Mexican coastline toward Jalisco, bringing additional high surf and heavy rainfall.

El Nino impact on the 2026 hurricane season

Meteorologists attribute the high volume of tropical activity in the eastern Pacific to a strong El Nino climate pattern. The Pacific basin has recorded nine hurricanes since the official season began on May 15, with three of those storms reaching the maximum Category 5 classification. In contrast, the Atlantic basin has recorded zero hurricanes since its official start on June 1. The hurricane season in both ocean basins is scheduled to run through November 30.

Pacific9

Atlantic0

Pacific

9 hurricanes

Atlantic

0 hurricanes

Data from the article text