STRONGEST HURRICANE EVER RECORDED BARRELS TOWARD MEXICO

East County News Service

October 23, 2015 (San Diego) – Hurricane Patricia, described as a “potentially catastrophic hurricane” by the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center, is forecast to slam into the Pacific coast of Mexico later today.  With winds of 200  miles per hour, Hurricane Patricia is the strongest hurricane ever recorded by the center, which tracks all storms in North America.

CNN reports that 50,000 people have been evacuated along the Mexican coast, where a storm surge wave of 30 feet is expected to hit the Mexican state of Jalisco. The powerful storm is between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, about 85 miles southwest of Manzanillo Mexico and 155 miles south of Cabo Corrientes. Flights from San Diego and elsewhere in California into the region have been cancelled, the Los Angeles Times reports.

A hurricane warning is in effect from San Blas to Punta San Telmo, where the hurricane is expected to strike within 24 hours. But the storm is expected to pack a wallop well beyond those boundaries with tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 175 miles from the eye of the hurricane.

After the the “extremely dangerous” category 5 hurricane makes landfall, it is expected to rapidly weaken over the mountains of Mexico but could still bring heavy rains and potential damage to the U.S. southwest.  

The hurricane could dump a foot of rain across much of the region, with isolated areas getting up to 20 inches capable of producing life-threatening flash floods and mud slides in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, and Guerrero through Saturday. 

An extremely dangerous storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding accompanied by large and destructive waves as well as rip current conditions.

Hurricane Patricia is not expected to impact California but after traveling across Mexico, could bring flooding and rains to southern Texas, the NWS office in San Diego advises.

Reporting San Diego has links to sites in Mexico for hurricane information including news sites in Spanish:

http://reportingsandiego.com/2015/10/23/hurricane-patricia-to-make-landf...

You can donate to the Mexican Red Cross here: https://www.aporta.org.mx/cruzrojamx