Patricia, strongest hurricane ever recorded, menaces Mexico

Patricia, strongest hurricane ever recorded, menaces Mexico

(CNN)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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