Patricia -- the strongest hurricane ever recorded -- barreled closer and closer Friday morning to Mexico's Pacific coast, where residents have been told to brace for its 200-mph sustained winds and torrential rains.
The
Miami-based meteorological center, in its 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET)
advisory, warned of a "potentially catastrophic landfall ... in
southwestern Mexico" late that afternoon or early evening. While its
strength could fluctuate, "Patricia is expected to remain an extremely
dangerous Category 5 hurricane through landfall."
Patricia
has potential to cause massive death and destruction over a large swath
of the Mexican Pacific coast, including the tourist hot spots of Puerto
Vallarta and Acapulco.
Citing
observations by hurricane hunters, Patricia is "the strongest hurricane
on record in the National Hurricane Center's area of responsibility
(AOR) which includes the Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific basins,"
according to a Friday morning forecast discussion.
The
closest contender, at this point, might be Hurricane Camille when it
battered the U.S. Gulf Coast in 1969. Regardless, Patricia looks to be
more powerful than that storm, Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Katrina in 2005
and many others.
It's
already surpassed them in one way: Its central pressure reading -- the
weight of the air above a system -- which is a key measure of any
storm's strength.
The
early Friday central pressure recording of 880 millibars (the
barometric pressure equivalent is 25.98 inches) "is the lowest for any
tropical cyclone globally for over 30 years," according to the Met
Office, Britain's weather service.

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