Hurricane Patricia
Position: 20.2N 104.6W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [020°] near 20 mph [31 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 130 mph [215 kph].
Wind Gusts: 160 mph [255 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 35 miles [ 55 km].
Minimum central pressure: 946 mb ↑.
Currently about 50 miles [ 75 km] Southeast of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
After almost 4 hours inland the wind speed has reduced to Category 4 level at 10PM.
At 6:15PM CDT [2315 UTC] the storm made landfall near Cuixmala, Mexico with sustained winds of 165 mph [270 kph] and a pressure of 920 mb.
This is the strongest hurricane to affect the Western Hemisphere, replacing Hurricane Wilma [2005] as the lowest measured pressure 879 mb, and with 200 mph constant winds. The readings were directly taken by Hurricane Hunter aircraft. This is like a huge EF-5 tornado.
At 4PM CDT the storm is losing a little strength while speeding up, which is better news than remaining unchanged. At 7PM the weakening continues.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for San Blas to Punta San Telmo.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for East of Punta San Telmo to Lazaro Cardenas and North of San Blas to El Roblito.
Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.
[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]
October 23, 2015 4 Comments
