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The Hurricane Polo, which has weakened to category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, continues its slow movement off the Mexican Pacific coast and will continue to cause intense rain in states in the west of the country, reported the National Meteorological Service (SMN).
At 06:00 local time (12:00 GMT), the center of the cyclone was located over the Pacific Ocean, about 270 kilometers south of Zihuatanejo, in the state of Guerrero, and 515 kilometers southeast of Manzanillo, Colima.
Polo has maximum sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour, gusts of up to 295 kilometers per hour, and is moving north at 4 kilometers per hour.
The SMN, part of the National Water Commission (Conagua), and the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) are maintaining a tropical storm watch zone from Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero, to Punta San Telmo, Michoacán.
Likewise, a tropical storm watch zone persists from west of Punta San Telmo, Michoacán, to Playa Pérula, Jalisco.
Authorities do not expect the storm to make landfall in the coming hours.
However, the wide circulation of Polo will cause intense rains, between 75 and 150 millimeters, in Jalisco, Colima, and parts of Michoacán and Guerrero over the next few hours; in addition to very heavy rainfall, from 50 to 75 millimeters, in western Oaxaca.
Wind gusts between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour are also expected on the coasts of Colima, Michoacán, and Guerrero; and 40 to 50 kilometers per hour on the coasts of Jalisco and Oaxaca, although it is expected that in the latter entity, the gusts will decrease throughout the day.
The hurricane will also generate waves between seven and nine meters on the coasts of Colima, Michoacán, and Guerrero, and two to three meters in Oaxaca and Jalisco.
Authorities warned that the rainfall associated with the cyclone could cause landslides, an increase in river and stream levels, flooding, and overflow in low-lying areas, and asked the population to follow the SMN's notices and Civil Protection recommendations.
The effects of the cyclone have led the governments of Guerrero and Michoacán to suspend classes on September 22 and 23, while at least six Mexican Pacific ports, including Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, maintain partial or total restrictions on navigation.
In response to potential impacts, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) deployed 1,320 workers, 82 emergency power plants, and dozens of vehicles and cranes to strategic points, while the Secretariat of the Navy has kept nearly 14,000 naval personnel, 25 ships, 76 boats, and more than 300 vehicles ready in nine states.
[Publicidad]