Polo and Nolo: a pair of tropical trouble. The Pacific has been oh-so active this hurricane season.Polo became the third Category 5 hurricane of the Eastern and
Polo and Nolo: a pair of tropical trouble. The Pacific has been oh-so active this hurricane season.
Polo became the third Category 5 hurricane of the Eastern and Central Pacific season—and the strongest of the three. At peak intensity, its 180 mph winds tied it for the third-highest ever recorded in the Eastern Pacific, while its central pressure ranked second-lowest.
It has since weakened, in part as it underwent an eyewall replacement cycle. That is when a new, larger ring of thunderstorms forms around the original eyewall, eventually cutting it off. Peak winds often dip temporarily during this reorganization, but the storm’s intense wind field often expands. If conditions stay favorable, the new eyewall can re-strengthen. Polo, though, is expected to gradually lose some strength as it heads generally toward Baja California.
Soon-to-be Nolo is a different problem. It began as a disturbance in the Eastern Pacific, then disorganized for a time, only to regroup and is now threatening Hawaii. This will likely become the fourth tropical cyclone to affect the islands this season—in a place that often goes multiple years without even one tropical encounter. It has been that active in this part of the Pacific.
Nolo’s exact track remains uncertain, but another round of heavy rain and flash flooding could threaten the Big Island and Maui Friday into Saturday—particularly unfortunate for places still recovering from earlier storms.
