Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
![]() Hurricane Polo near peak intensity | |
Formed | September 26, 1984 |
---|---|
Dissipated | October 3, 1984 |
Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 115 mph (185 km/h) |
Fatalities | None |
Damage | Minimal |
Areas affected | Baja California Sur, Mexico, United States |
Part of the 1984 Pacific hurricane season |
Hurricane Polo was a hurricane which struck extreme Southern Baja California and western Mexico during the October of 1984. It was the sixteenth named storm, final hurricane and major hurricane of the well-above average 1984 Pacific hurricane season. It formed from a disturbance that moved west-southwest out of the Gulf of Tehuantepec on September 24. The system was upgraded to a tropical depression on the afternoon of September 25, a few hundred miles south of Acapulco. The system slowly strengthened, and was upgraded to a tropical storm. It was given the name Polo. Polo reached its maximum intensity early on the morning of October 1st. An upper level trough moved towards Baja California and turned the hurricane sharply to east, and the system began its extratropical transition. On the night of October 2, Polo made landfall as a tropical depression. Minimal Damage occurred as a result of Polo. [1]
Meteorological history
editTropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
Unknown
The sixteenth named storm of the season formed from a tropical disturbance that moved west-southwest out of the Gulf of Tehuantepec on September 24th, becoming the 21st tropical depression of the 1984 Pacific hurricane season on the afternoon of September 25th, a few hundred miles southeast of Acapulco. [2] Continuing its west-southwest motion, the system slowly strengthened. After Polo turned northwest it intensified more significantly, becoming a hurricane and reaching its maximum intensity of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) early on the morning of October 1st. [1]
An upper level trough moved towards the Baja California Peninsula and turned the hurricane sharply to east, and the system began to experience vertical wind shear as well as move over cooler waters, which caused weakening. [1]
On the night of October 2nd, the center of Hurricane Polo crossed southern Baja California as a tropical depression. The system continued to move north of due east, and made its final landfall as a tropical depression about 175 miles (280 kilometers) northwest of Mazatlán. The tropical cyclone finally became a remnant low on October 3. [1]
Impact
editWhen Hurricane Polo made landfall in Baja California on October 2 and Western Mexico on October 3, it became the third tropical cyclone to make landfall during the 1984 Pacific hurricane season. Hurricane Polo posed a flash flood watch for the United states (especially in Arizona, Texas and Colorado). [3]
Baja California
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Western Mexico
editHurricane Polo, with maximum sustained winds at its center of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), moved ashore to Western Mexico after its first landfall in Baja California. [4] It then made its final landfall roughly 175 miles (280 kilometers) northwest of Mazatlán.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Hurricane POLO 1984 rainfall and description". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2007-2-28.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ E.B Gunther and R.L Cross (August 1985). "1984 Pacific hurricane season summary".
- ^ "HURRICANE POSES FLOOD WATCHES". Ellensburg Daily Record. October 1984.
- ^ "HURRICANE POLO MOVES ASHORE TO WESTERN MEXICO". The Dispatch. October 3, 1984.