MIAMI, Oct. 23 (UPI) — Hurricane Patricia has grown in about 24 hours from a tropical storm to the most powerful hurricane yet recorded over the Pacific Ocean, meteorologists said.
The National Hurricane Center issued an advisory Thursday evening as the Category 5 hurricane headed for the West Coast of Mexico, feeding off unusually warm ocean temperatures, and whipping winds of up to 185 mph.
The NHC also recorded by far the lowest pressure ever measured in a Pacific hurricane and the 185-mph winds are well beyond the 157-mph threshold to qualify as a Category 5 storm.
“Patricia is estimated to have intensified 85 kt [100 mph] in the past 24 hours,” the NHC advisory said. “This is a remarkable feat, with only Linda of 1997 intensifying at this rate in the satellite era.”
Patricia will still be at Category 5 strength when it reaches the coastline of the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit on Friday. Resort city Puerto Vallarta to Mexico’s second largest city, Guadalajara, are in the storm’s path.
The monster hurricane will bring potentially catastrophic winds as well as flooding, massive storm surge and big, powerful waves onshore.
October 1959 was the last time a Category 5 hurricane slammed Mexico’s west coast. That storm killed 1,800 people.
This will be the first time a hurricane this powerful has threatened North American since Hurricane Felix approached Nicaragua in September 2007.
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