Hurricane Patricia Expected to Make Catastrophic Landfall in Mexico In Hours

Patricia, as seen from the International Space Station:

Hillary Clinton said she could almost see Chris Stevens giggling like a schoolgirl as he thought about the impending human and physical destruction.

They say it's the most powerful hurricane in the western hemisphere ever recorded, and it'll be making a direct hit on the west coast of central Mexico.

Hurricane Patricia became the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured in the Western Hemisphere on Friday morning as its maximum sustained winds reached an unprecedented 200 mph (320 kph).

The hurricane is forecast to make landfall in the Mexican state of Jalisco Friday evening as a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane capable of causing widespread destruction...

At 4 p.m. CDT, the eye of Hurricane Patricia was about 60 miles (135 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico with 190 mph sustained winds, and was moving north-northeast at 14 mph (23 kph).

In addition to its unprecedented 200-mph (320-kph) sustained winds earlier Friday, Hurricane Patricia now holds the record for lowest pressure in any hurricane on record. With a minimum central pressure of 880 millibars (25.99 inches of mercury) at the 4 a.m. CDT advisory, Patricia broke the record of 882 millibars set by Wilma almost exactly 10 years ago. At the 1 p.m. CDT advisory the minimum central pressure was lowered to 879 millibars (25.96 inches of mercury).

This will be a terrible week for Mexico. Prayers.

And the south central US, especially Texas, are bracing for floods and driving rain.

Over 10 million people in the south-central U.S. face potential flash flooding as a slow-moving storm dumps heavy rain through the weekend-- and only intensifies in the wake of Hurricane Patricia, forecasters warn.

Cars were reportedly stranded by floodwaters in Corsicana, south of Dallas, Friday and officials in Galveston County were considering a voluntary evacuation of Bolivar Peninsula but would reevaluate Saturday morning.

Much of central and southeast Texas were under a flood watch Friday and there were flash flood warnings issued for Navarro and Hamilton counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Keep dry and warm, amigos.

Update: Four live video feeds of the hurricane's landfall. And it's making landfall now.

posted by Ace at 07:22 PM

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