On This Day: Patricia Becomes Strongest Hurricane in Western Hemisphere

On this day in 2015, Hurricane Patricia became the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere.

Before Patricia was a raging Category 5 hurricane, it had a long, complicated development into a tropical cyclone. After rounds of tropical waves spun south of Mexico for several days, a well-defined circulation was finally found early on October 20, 2015, leading to the formation of a tropical depression. By the end of the day, Tropical Storm Patricia was born.

Patricia underwent modest strengthening for the next 24 hours, becoming a hurricane during the evening of October 21. After Patricia achieved hurricane status, the lid blew off and the storm rapidly intensified. In just 18 hours, Patricia’s sustained winds strengthened 55 mph to a Category 4 major hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph.

The rapid intensification persisted an additional 18 hours and by the morning of October 23, Hurricane Patricia reached peak intensity, packing winds of 210 mph and a minimum central pressure of 879 mb, or 25.96 inches of mercury. Patricia weakened over the next 11 hours before making a landfall near Playa Cuixmala, Mexico as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph.

Hurricane Patricia broke many records for its strength. Its sustained winds of 210 mph made it the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere since records became reliable in the East Pacific in 1988. Patricia’s pressure was the second lowest on record for Earth and its rapid intensification of 120 mph in just 24 hours beat Hurricane Wilma’s rapid intensification of 110 mph.

While hurricane season tends to be winding down by late October, Hurricane Patricia is just one example of how ferocious storms are still possible this time of autumn.

Sources: nhc.noaa.gov
----------
Story Image: Hurricane Patricia shortly after reaching peak intensity near western Mexico. (NASA/MODIS-Terra Satellite)