Tropical Storm Polo is strengthening. Could it mean more rain for California?
-
Click here to listen to this article
This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
- Rapidly intensifying Tropical Storm Polo is forecast to become a dangerous hurricane off southwestern Mexico.
- Forecasters say it’s too early to gauge Polo’s effect on California.
A tropical storm rapidly intensifying into a “very dangerous” hurricane in the Pacific Ocean could potentially bring more muggy weather to Southern California, forecasters say.
Tropical Storm Polo is expected to strengthen to a major hurricane as it moves closer to the coast of southwestern Mexico, bringing heavy rainfall that could trigger life-threatening flooding and landslides to the country, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Monday forecast.
Although it’s still too early to tell, Polo could pull tropical moisture into Southern California, depending on patterns in the upper levels of the atmosphere, said Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Previous Pacific storms, most recently Hurricane Marie, have blanketed the region in unusually warm, humid air more reminiscent of the South.
Polo is the 16th named storm to form in the eastern Pacific this year.
Any effects from Polo probably won’t reach Southern California until toward the end of the weekend, at the earliest, according to Lewis.
The biggest impact would most likely be the potential for increased surf from a south swell, but the magnitude depends on the track of the system and is tough to pin down this far out, Lewis said.
“After almost an entire summer of southern swell after southern swell, there could be some issues for those vulnerable coastlines,” he said.
Already this year, multiple counties and towns have declared local emergencies as a spell of powerful tropical storms from the Pacific generated high surf that eroded local beaches.
Those include Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Carlsbad, which cited coastal erosion and sand loss.
El Niño typically results in an unusually active hurricane season in the eastern Pacific and heavy winter rainfall in Southern California, and this El Niño is predicted to be the strongest in at least a generation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency in anticipation of this winter’s storms, citing fears the weather pattern could bring high surf and high-impact storms to the state.
Times staff writer Grace Toohey contributed to this report.
More to Read
California declares statewide emergency ahead of projected epic El Niño storms
Inglewood mayor, embroiled in groping allegations, accuses rivals of smear campaign
Chabria: A ‘fight worth fighting’: Paramount settlement is less than desired, more than nothing
More From the Los Angeles Times
Former Disney child star sentenced to more than 2 years in federal prison
Wild California crime rampage: Man linked to slaying, stolen guns and forest fires, police say
No timeline on Jayden Daniels’ return from injury that turned stomachs; Caleb Williams not ruled out for Week 3
Gunman opens fire at senior living facility in South L.A., wounding 3
Podcasts
Greenline Housing Foundation has become something of a “first aid kit” for Eaton fire survivors, offering financial services that range from temporary housing grants to land banking that have helped some families fund their paths back home.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito dig into family planning: what it means for Latinos in 2026, why it’s still taboo in our communities, and how much has changed in one generation.
Funding The Rebuild: How Nonprofits Are Helping Eaton Fire Survivors Return Home
Greenline Housing Foundation has become something of a “first aid kit” for Eaton fire survivors, offering financial services that range from temporary housing grants to land banking that have helped some families fund their paths back home.
How A Hillside Strangler Nearly Went Free
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
AOC Is Freezing Her Eggs — Fidel & Suzy on Family Planning, Latino Birth Rates & the Latino Sex Ed Problem
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito dig into family planning: what it means for Latinos in 2026, why it’s still taboo in our communities, and how much has changed in one generation.
Most Read in California
Carnival cruise passenger goes missing after cameras capture him going overboard
Raman says she’s running for L.A. mayor because the city is ‘really, really struggling’
Father of 3 disappeared amid violent waves. How a single bone unraveled the case
Newsom signs bills to regulate data center industry, criticizes Trump for inaction
Source: original · archived on viral-news.eu