A bizarre feature dubbed a “death band” has appeared along the side of monster Hurricane Polo, alarming weather watchers as the Category 4 storm moves toward the Baja California Peninsula.
Videos showing Polo surging across the Pacific appeared to capture a bubble-like pressure band bulging from the hurricane, triggering a wave of increasingly concerned reactions online.
“Hurricane Polo has developed a ‘death band’ on its western side. Normally, these bands are very dangerous to those in its path,” a south Florida storm chaser wrote.
“Fortunately, it is currently over the water and is actually helping to take some of the fuel away from the hurricane.”
Other weather enthusiasts were also struck by the hurricane’s unusual appearance.
“Polo is a weird, weird-looking storm. Certainly one of the strangest super typhoon-equivalent storms I’ve ever seen,” one person wrote.
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“Did Polo gain a parasite overnight? Stealing its energy,” another self-described weather nerd added.
The strange spectacle comes as Hurricane Polo continues to rank among the strongest storms ever recorded in the eastern Pacific.
Polo had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph on Thursday, making it a Category 4 hurricane. Earlier this week, the storm intensified explosively, increasing from 85 mph to 180 mph in just 22 hours. The National Hurricane Center said Polo is expected to remain an extremely powerful hurricane for the next several days.
On Thursday, Polo was located about 195 miles southwest of Zihuatanejo and 150 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. The hurricane was moving west-northwest at approximately 10 mph and is expected to continue pulling away from Mexico before nearing the Baja California Peninsula early next week.
A direct hurricane landfall in California is not currently forecast. However, Polo could still affect the coast by generating powerful swells, dangerous surf and a possible risk of coastal flooding.
Higher surf could coincide with high tides on Monday and Tuesday, creating a potentially hazardous combination and increasing the threat of coastal flooding along parts of California.
Long Beach and Newport Beach are preparing for the storm by installing massive sand barriers to help protect against the waves.
