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Gone quiet · last update Sep 28, 2026 / Hawaii

Hurricane Polo's landfall in Mexico and the floods in the US Southwest

Overview · reviewed October 28, 2026

Hurricane Polo rapidly intensified in September 2026 into a Category 5 storm, one of the most powerful in the eastern Pacific's history, and made landfall on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula on September 29.[1][2] It brought destructive waves, flooding and heavy rain to Mexico, and its remnants carried rain and thunderstorms into Arizona and the US Southwest.[3][4]

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It brought destructive waves, flooding and heavy rain to Mexico, and its remnants carried rain and thunderstorms into Arizona and the US Southwest.[3][4]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2026-09-21 (UTC): 15%, 72 of 479 tracked outlets (20 left, 41 center, 11 right)Week of 2026-09-28 (UTC): 9%, 42 of 476 tracked outlets (13 left, 25 center, 4 right)Week of 2026-10-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 5 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (2 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Sep 28, 20261325442 of 4769%
Sep 21, 202620411172 of 47915%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Sep 28, 2026 · first reported · Headline from KRQE Albuquerque

    Remnants of Hurricane Polo impacting multiple areas across New Mexico

Background

Polo explosively strengthened on September 22.[1] Southern California beach communities reinforced their defenses against heavy surf,[3] and the Long Beach Peninsula, still recovering from Hurricane Marie three weeks earlier, braced for more powerful surf.[5] Forecasters said there could be three hurricanes in the Pacific at once.[6] After landfall, the storm's remnants spread rain and thunderstorms across Arizona.[4]

Supporting stories (6)
  1. Hurricane Nolo moving past Hawaii, still poses risks. Hurricane Polo pushes on toward Mexico
  2. Hurricane Polo makes landfall in Mexico as heavy rains bring floods to US Southwest
  3. Hurricane Polo could cause life-threatening flooding in Mexico's Baja California peninsula
  4. Arizona weather forecast: Flash flood watches active as Hurricane Polo remnants hit the state
  5. Long Beach braces for another round of high surf, this time via Hurricane Polo
  6. Hurricane Polo churns as new storm threatens Hawaii with ‘catastrophic flooding’

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 7 recorded updates

September 2026

  1. Hurricane Polo makes landfall in Mexico as heavy rains bring floods to US SouthwestHeadline from KOB 4 · 22 outlets
  2. Arizona weather forecast: Flash flood watches active as Hurricane Polo remnants hit the stateHeadline from Fox10 Phoenix · 1 outlet
  3. Long Beach braces for another round of high surf, this time via Hurricane PoloHeadline from Foxla · 3 outlets
  4. Hurricane Polo churns as new storm threatens Hawaii with ‘catastrophic flooding’Headline from AL.com · 5 outlets
  5. Arizona weather forecast: Hurricane Polo moisture could bring heavy rain, flood risksHeadline from Fox10 Phoenix · 1 outlet
  6. Hurricane Polo could cause life-threatening flooding in Mexico's Baja California peninsulaHeadline from PBS NewsHour · 40 outlets
  7. Hurricane Nolo moving past Hawaii, still poses risks. Hurricane Polo pushes on toward MexicoHeadline from Las Vegas Review-Journal · 73 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →