Hurricane Patricia, The Strongest Recorded Storm in History, Barrels down on Mexican Coastline

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Category: Earth, Air, Space Science

Published on Friday, 23 October 2015 08:36

Written by Janet Walker

Hurricane Patricia, the strongest recorded storm in history with sustained winds greater than 200mph, is on a projected path that will create a direct hit making landfall near the pacific coast state of Jalisco, Mexico today.

With catastrophic damage predictions, resort towns from Los Cabos to Puerto Vallarta to Acapulco are taking the storm seriously and moving quickly to complete the necessary safety precautions, boarding windows, gathering supplies and securing structures.

The well-defined storm, a category 5, firmed up overnight as yesterday it was only a tropical storm and throughout the last twenty-four hours intensified into the strongest recorded storm in history.

Patricia’s bands are already reaching across the Mexican peninsula, touching the warm waters of the Gulf. The storm is expected to dissipate, quickly, after landfall by 7:00pm Saturday will still retrain some definition as a category one storm before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

Patricia is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson with maximum sustained winds remaining near 200 mph (325 km/h) with higher gusts.   

She is expected to remain an extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane through landfall.  After landfall, Patricia is forecast to rapidly weaken over the mountains of Mexico. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) is sending out a Hurricane Hunter craft to investigate Patricia before landfall.

Hurricane Patricia is not expected to reform with any intensity in the Gulf of Mexico, although it is expected to add to the already tropical storm system soaking Texas with continued rain up to 20inches in isolated areas with flooding and flash flooding expected in southwest Texas as well.

Atlantic Hurricanes have been known to sit off the coast gathering strength, reforming and intensifying before making landfall.

The cone model has Patricia on a direct path to make landfall with the central Mexican coastline between the towns of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta.

An additional 56 municipalities are under storm watch, with catastrophic winds and storm surge of destructive levels, dumping rain inland with catastrophic flash floods, and tornados are expected as the apocalyptic storm moves inland.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km).

Hurricane Patricia has the strength to destroy homes, create heavy projectiles, including automobiles and other unsecured objects. Glass shards become bullets.

All safety precautions must be obeyed. Follow all warnings. Hurricane Patricia has potential for high loss of life; massive coastal flooding, catastrophic and devastating storm surge.