Putting Patricia into Perspective

Category 5 Hurricane Patricia (Source: UW-Madison)

Hurricane Patricia has set a new all-time record for strongest hurricane in the Western Hemisphere.  Patricia rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in only 24 hours.  In just one day, its sustained winds increased by 110 mph, which is among the fastest rates of hurricane intensification anywhere in the world. 

On Friday, October 23, a hurricane reconnaissance flight measured Patricia’s sustained winds at 200 mph with a minimum air pressure of 880 millibars (Patricia’s lowest air pressure was ultimately 872 millibars).  Air pressure is generally considered a more accurate measure of the intensity of a hurricane.  The lower the air pressure, the stronger the storm is.  Standard sea level air pressure is approximately 1013 millibars.  According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Linda in 1997 was the previous strongest hurricane in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.  Also a Category 5 hurricane, Linda's highest sustained winds were 185 mph with a minimum air pressure of 902 millibars.  The strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean was Hurricane Wilma in 2005, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph and a minimum air pressure of 882 millibars.

While Hurricane Patricia became the strongest hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere, it ranks as the second strongest hurricane to form worldwide.  Only Typhoon Tip was stronger in 1979.  According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, Tip remains the world’s strongest hurricane on record with a minimum air pressure of 870 millibars (its highest sustained winds were 190 mph).  Hurricanes are known as typhoon west of the International Date Line in the north Pacific Ocean.

In addition to having had the lowest air pressure of any hurricane in the Western Hemisphere, Patricia also had the highest sustained winds at 215 mph.  The previous record-holder in the Western Hemisphere was 1980’s Hurricane Allen, which was another Category 5 storm that had peak sustained winds of 190 mph.  To help put Patricia’s maximum sustained winds of 215 mph into perspective: that’s equivalent to an EF-5 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale - as strong as tornadoes get.

Hurricane Patricia came ashore last night on the West coast of Mexico as a Category 5 storm – capable of catastrophic damage.  The last Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in North America was Dean in 2007 (on the east coast of Mexico).  The remnants of Patricia are expected to bring rain to Texas which is bad since Texas is already experiencing dangerous flooding.