Saturday, October 17, 2009

Second Strongest Hurricane On Record In Eastern Pacific Aims for Cabo

Officials at the National Hurricane Center are now calling Hurricane Rick the second strongest hurricane on record in the Eastern Pacific. As of 8pm Pacific time, Rick was located 295 miles South-Southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, moving West-Northwest near 14 mph. The storm is expected to make a turn to the North by Monday. Maximum sustained winds are now up to 180 mph, with stronger gusts -making Rick an extremely dangerous Category Five Hurricane. Additional strengthening is possible overnight, before a slow gradual weakening commences.
Most forecast models show a weakened version of Hurricane Rick hitting southern tip of Baja by the middle part of next week. Anyone planning travel to this region should keep turned to changing weather conditions, and possible air travel disruptions.

Pictured above: Infrared image of Hurricane Rick with a most impressive stadium-like eye wall surrounding a beautiful 10-nautical mile wide eye.