Satellite image of Hurricane Patricia at 0347Z Friday, October 23, 2015 (11:47 pm EDT Thursday).
Posted on 10/23/2015 2:08:35 AM PDT by uglybiker
History is being made tonight in the Northeast Pacific as Hurricane Patricia churns about 200 miles off the coast of Mexico, south-southwest of Manzanillo. With its 11 pm EDT Thursday advisory, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Patricia to Category 5, with top sustained winds of 160 mph and a central pressure of 924 millibars. Hurricane warnings are now in effect for the coast from San Blas to Punta San Telmo, including Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, with a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning eastward to Lazaro Cardenas. Update: Late Thursday night, an Air Force Hurricane Hunter flight captured some of the most extreme observations ever recorded in 70 years of reconnaissance activity. Based on flight-level winds of 179 knots (206 mph), NHC upgraded Patricia's strength at 12:30 am EDT Friday to 185 mph. The estimated surface pressure of 892 mb is the lowest on record for the Northeast Pacific, and it ranks #3 for the entire Western Hemisphere behind only Wilma (882 mb, on October 19, 2005) and Gilbert (888 mb, on September 13, 1988). A surface reading of 892 mb was recorded at Key West during the Labor Day hurricane (September 2, 1935).
Satellite image of Hurricane Patricia at 0347Z Friday, October 23, 2015 (11:47 pm EDT Thursday).
Visible satellite image of Hurricane Patricia close to nightfall, at 2345Z (7:45 pm EDT) Thursday, October 22. 2015. Image credit: NOAA and CIMMS/SSEC/University of Wisconsin.
(Excerpt) Read more at wunderground.com ...
‘Semi-devastating impacts’? You mean you only lose half your house???
Sad. Hubby and I honeymooned in P.V. Beautiful place, bunched in between a steep mountain ridge and the ocean. Our ground-level room at the b’n’b opened up to the beach. I can imagine the whole place just getting washed away. :(
I think that means your home only floats away vs being crushed flat then the debris floating away...
Puzzled why the biggest story of the day isn't in breaking news anymore.
Wow, that thing is big enough to blow our tax money down to there.
Bummer, I was supposed to go to Nuevo Vallarta on the 9th of November.
...."it grew so powerful in a short period of time. Through Thursday, its peak winds went from 40 mph to 130 mph in 24 hours", said Bob Henson, a meteorologist and blogger with Weather Underground.
see post 70
Here's one of the shelters the Mexican government opened... Truth in advertising would be 'last known location' - if the glass shards don't kill you or flying debris coming through the large openings or the walls falling over in 235 mph gusts, the water will likely finish you off.
To put things in perspective, we tend to design for 80 mph at say 16lbs/SF, 100 mph winds at say 25 Lb/SF.
200 mph will be designed at least for 100 lb/SF.
Design in some areas of the bldg 200-210 mph winds will have some design loading at closer to 225 LB/SF. Some uplift forces exceed 400lb/sf at those velocities for a flat roof at the eaves.
Couple this with stormwater drainage failures and foundation damage, complete annihilation of structures isn’t implausible.
In one word:
EVACUATE.
I don’t have cable...did anyone from the Weather Channel put themselves in the path of this storm?
Surprised windows aren’t covered....the winds alone could smash thru those windows!
Haven’t heard...but the areas are being evacuated....this storm is not one to play around in by any means...even for Journalists and Weather people.
Agreed.
It would be smarter to remove the windows, bulldoze earth up against the walls, and bunker down.
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