NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA's Aqua satellite and MUR SST data from NASA JPL · Public domain NASA imagery. NASA content is generally not subject to copyright in the United States and may be used by news outlets without explicit permission in a factual manner that does not imply endorsement, per NASA's Images and Media Usage Guidelines. Provenance and download page: https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/explosive-intensification-for-hurricane-polo/
NEWS Earth & Climate
Hurricane Polo went from tropical storm to Category 5 in about a day, at what analysts call record pace for the eastern Pacific
By September 22, 2026, Hurricane Polo had gained 90 knots of wind speed in 24 hours and reached Category 5 over unusually warm water off Guerrero, Mexico, in what analysts cited by NASA say was the fastest tropical-depression-to-Category-5 transition on record in the eastern Pacific. Here is what happened, why it happened, and what it means for warning times.