The Hurricane That Hit Baja Is Now Flooding the Desert Southwest

Hurricane Polo came ashore on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula early Tuesday, September 29, as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 110 mph. Landfall was just south of Las Barrancas in Baja California Sur, roughly 80 miles north of Cabo San Lazaro, on the peninsula’s lightly populated Pacific side. Coastal communities such as Puerto San Carlos saw flooded streets and downed trees, and around 700 people spent the night in shelters. Authorities reported no deaths or serious damage in the immediate aftermath, a far better outcome than many had feared when Polo was a Category 5 storm offshore.

The storm then crossed the Gulf of California and made a second, weaker landfall in the Mexican state of Sonora later on Tuesday morning. Sonora officials suspended school, sports and non-essential work in the state capital, Hermosillo, and more than a dozen other municipalities. The U.S. Embassy had already warned Americans along the peninsula, from Cabo San Lucas to Guerrero Negro, to expect flight disruption, closed ports and suspended local travel, and to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.

The bigger surprise for U.S. travellers is what happened next. Polo’s moisture spread northeast into the desert Southwest, where an already soggy September left the ground unable to absorb more rain. Phoenix picked up as much as two inches early Tuesday, a truck was swept away in a wash north of the city, and near Zion National Park the East Fork of the Virgin River surged violently enough to carry a shipping container downstream. Forecasters warned Albuquerque and Santa Fe could see three to four inches through Wednesday, with urban flooding likely.

The system is not finished. Forecasters expect the flood threat to shift into the central United States, with widespread heavy rain reaching Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio from late Wednesday and flood watches stretching across west Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa through Thursday. Anyone flying into those cities this week should build in extra time and watch for airline waivers. Travellers with park trips in southern Utah, northern Arizona or New Mexico should check road and trail closures before setting out, and never drive through flooded arroyos or low-water crossings.

Sources: PBS News (AP), U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico