9 thoughts on “Hurricane Patricia now strongest storm ever recorded in western hemisphere”
Official forecast has 205 mph at landfall. This is incredible. The only good news is that it seems most likely to make landfall east of the big city of the area, Puerto Vallarta, putting that city on the west side of this relatively small storm. 200 mph though… Might not see this again for a while. I said that about Haiyan (with its 195 mph winds) too and here we are two years later… Global warming, anyone?
We would like to acknowledge deeply the Air Force Hurricane Hunters for their observations establishing Patricia as a record-breaking hurricane. Clearly, without their data, we would never have known just how strong a tropical cyclone it was.
For about five years 1984-88 we used to rent a beach house in Manzanillo. The easiest way to get there was to fly to Puerto Vallarta and drive down, about a three-hour drive along the coast through banana plantations where you see campesinos in crisp white shirts and sombreros hauling firewood with mule-driven carts. After the hurly-burly of PV the countryside was languid, relaxed, low stress, and for all the scary stories you hear about bandits in Mexico, it felt as safe as driving through Nebraska.
I hate to think of those people getting through this unimaginably powerful storm.
Hopefully they will take the warnings seriously and move to high ground. The surge from that, depending on tide level, will likely be incredible. Sandy flooding was so bad because it hit right at peak high tide.
Official forecast has 205 mph at landfall. This is incredible. The only good news is that it seems most likely to make landfall east of the big city of the area, Puerto Vallarta, putting that city on the west side of this relatively small storm. 200 mph though… Might not see this again for a while. I said that about Haiyan (with its 195 mph winds) too and here we are two years later… Global warming, anyone?
Here's what Typhoon Haiyan's storm surge did.
Patricia, incredibly, will be worse.
We've done a lot of work in the largest port on the Mexican Pacific coast – Manzanillo. Looks like landfall will be betwixt there and Puerto Vallarta.
Hah! Saw this after entering my comment below. Manzanillo was a great escape from winter weather.
Also from the forecast discussion:
We would like to acknowledge deeply the Air Force Hurricane Hunters for their observations establishing Patricia as a record-breaking hurricane. Clearly, without their data, we would never have known just how strong a tropical cyclone it was.
Dennis: The storm is so intense that the air temperature up in the hurricane’s eye, thousands of feet above the surface, was 89°F. 89°F!
For about five years 1984-88 we used to rent a beach house in Manzanillo. The easiest way to get there was to fly to Puerto Vallarta and drive down, about a three-hour drive along the coast through banana plantations where you see campesinos in crisp white shirts and sombreros hauling firewood with mule-driven carts. After the hurly-burly of PV the countryside was languid, relaxed, low stress, and for all the scary stories you hear about bandits in Mexico, it felt as safe as driving through Nebraska.
I hate to think of those people getting through this unimaginably powerful storm.
Hopefully they will take the warnings seriously and move to high ground. The surge from that, depending on tide level, will likely be incredible. Sandy flooding was so bad because it hit right at peak high tide.
MONSTROUS TIE-DYED T-SHIRT HEADED TOWARD MEXICO COAST