By Leila Miller
BUENOS AIRES, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Hurricane Polo moved away from Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday as a downgraded Category 4, before an expected return to make landfall in Baja California Sur on Monday, forecasters said.
On Saturday afternoon, Polo was about 330 miles (531 km)south west of the Mexican resort town of Cabo San Lucas, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (233 kph), according to the US National Hurricane Center. The storm was moving north west at 9 mph.
The NHC downgraded the hurricane from Category 5 on Saturday.
AccuWeather, a private forecaster, reported that Polo is expected to gradually lose intensity and hit Baja California as a Category 2. It's due to make landfall in an area away from dense population centers but with some small towns such as Las Barrancas, it said.
Twenty-four hours after landfall, the hurricane is expected to make a second landfall along the coast of mainland northwestern Mexico, bringing potential life-threatening flash flooding to parts of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua, AccuWeather reported.
The hurricane’s heavy rain and strong winds along Mexico’s Pacific coast forced evacuations, port closures and school cancellations this week. In the resort city of San Jose del Cabo, police officers restricted access to a beach on Friday as the hurricane generated high waves and dangerous surf conditions.
Hurricane conditions are possible on Monday afternoon from Punta Eugenia to Santa Fe in Baja California, the NHC said.
Polo is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches (10-20 cm) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur, with maximum amounts of 10 inches, which could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the NHC said. It could also cause life-threatening surf, rip currents and coastal flooding.
(Reporting by Leila Miller; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Andrea Ricci)
