Hurricane Rick Barrels Towards Baja California

    It’s official, Hurricane Rick is now a Category 5 storm, and the strongest hurricane in the North Pacific for over a decade. The storm has been kicking up sixteen foot waves along the Mexican Southwest coast while craft near the eye of the storm had reported waves cresting at fifty feet.

    Whipping winds exceeding 185 miles per hour have been reported along the coast as the storm barrels towards the resort town of Manzanillo, Mexico. It is likely that the eye of the storm will make landfall in Manzanillo over the coming days. It will then continue battering the coast from about 60 miles offshore. It is expected to make its final landfall over Baja California as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane. Do not be fooled, even a Category 1 or 2 storm can unleash torrential rains and mudslides, especially in the sandy Baja peninsula.

Image via Wikipedia

    Acapulco has closed their harbor to small craft, and the intense hurricane may cause flooding and mudslides in the town. Even so, many vacationers are choosing to ride out the storm as it passes through. City officials have announced no plans for evacuation. As the “increasingly dangerous” storm prepares to batter down the community. Socorro Island, however, is devoid of the tourists who flock there to scuba dive among the coral reefs.

    The storm is the most aggressive to brew in the North Pacific in over a decade. The only comparable hurricane in the North Pacific that made landfall in recent history is Hurricane Linda, which generated winds in excess of 185mph in September 1997. The two storms are the most powerful to shake up the Pacific since records began being kept in 1966.