Hurricane Patricia: Strongest Storm Ever Measured to Hit Mexico
Hurricane Patricia became the strongest storm ever measured on the planet early Friday, with experts warning it could trigger 40-foot waves along southwestern Mexico and "life-threatening" flash flooding.
More than 7 million residents — and an estimated tens of thousands of U.S. citizens visiting or living there — were told to prepare for the "worst-case scenario" as the ferocious storm was expected to race ashore on Mexico's Pacific coast between 6 to 10 p.m. ET Friday.
The tourist magnets of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo were directly in the Category 5 storm's projected path, and Puerto Vallarta's airport was closed Friday out of precaution as some stranded vacationers described their inability to fly out a "nightmare."
Packing 200 mph winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center labeled Patricia as the "strongest hurricane on record" in the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific Basins.
Some folks are fixing to find out what it's like to ride in a NASCAR race, on the outside of the car.
8 comments:
We are expecting up to 12" of rain just a bit east of Houston. Expecting... That could change. Either way, I'll be a little further up in East Texas so there's no telling what the fuck I'll come home to on Sunday. Gonna be raining like a motherfucker up there too.
Best news ever!!! It has weakened and the eye has pretty much collapsed. It's on land just now and is 60-70 miles due south of here. Mountains to weaken it more and all it's doing here is raining and no wind. Staying at friends and think I can return home later. We should be seeing some significant weather but are not. It can't be that easy but some are thinking rain will be it.
I admit to being pretty goddamn nervous and scared for that matter. Later I hope I can say I survives Patricia. We just heard of this a day and a half ago. There was no place to go. It was taking dead aim at us here in Nogalito and Vallarta.
If this was dodged I may have to go to town and get all pissed up and be somebody.
I wouldn't want to be in the path of that monster.
nothing much besides rain and Vallarta has been spared it seems.
Not to take away from the danger of any CAT 5 hurricane, but the "strongest hurricane on record" statement is part due to the inability to accurately measure winds above 200 MPH until about 15 years ago.
If you are in the path your best defense is to leave the area.
easier said than done in this case tony - i understand that much better now.
http://oakcreekforum.blogspot.mx/2015/10/patricia-and-rest-of-story.html
Damn, I forgot all about you being down there.
Glad to hear you are OK, hope the hangover ain't too bad.
The "strongest hurricane ever measured" tag is frightening, but really doesn't mean much. As Tony Tsquared says, we simply haven't been able to measure them very accurately for any length of time. There have been really huge storms in the past that got well into Cat 5 that might have competed for that title.
What people don't seem to get is that the higher the winds the more tightly wrapped up the storm is and the smaller the eye. Anything that disrupts that, like mountains, make it unwind chaotically very quickly. Even just flat land with no mountains, like Florida, can disrupt the winds.
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