How Hurricane Patricia Quickly Became a Monster Storm

Viktoria Schmuck

October 23, 2015

Earth Science/C ODD/McClellan

Vance, E. (2015, October 23). How Hurricane Patricia Quickly Became a Monster Storm. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

Plumer, B. (2015, October 26). Hurricane Patricia was a monster - but did surprisingly little damage. Here's why. Retrieved October 27, 2015.

Hurricane Patricia was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. It was a stage five, meaning it is the worst stage of tropical storms. It was also the fastest growing hurricane ever recorded. This monster was equivalent to a fifteen mile version of a EF5 tornado, which is one of the strongest forces of nature. What was notably unusual about Patricia is that it was extremely late in the hurricane season, which ends November 30th. Another surprising aspect was the wind, which changed from 130 mph on the 22nd, to 200 mph on the 23rd. This hurricane was one of the deadliest ever recorded.

The main question is, why did this hurricane become so monstrous? The answer partially is el Niño. El Niño is a time period where the ocean and the atmosphere have a set condition over the ocean. It powers hurricanes in the Pacific and pulls strength from those in the Atlantic. More specifically there are three reasons for why the storm grew so drastically. First, the temperature of the ocean's surface was 30 degrees celsius, which is one or two degrees above the average temperature during el Niño. Second, the winds above the storm were unusually calm, preventing any splits or breaks happening to the hurricane from above, which stronger conditions could have caused. Finally, unlike the usual 60-70% humidity, it was up to a scorching 80%. All of the above were the main fuels to the most deadly hurricane of time.

As the hurricane continued, the Mexican government evacuated thousands. They were able to prepare since they saw the hurricane coming, making it less damaging. The hurricane also hit the strong terrain, so it was significantly weaker. Unfortunately, it wasn’t weak enough to spare the lives of 6 unlucky victims. They were killed after the hurricane hit the Mexican coast at about 7pm, on Friday the 23rd. Although there were victims, Patricia did far less damage than many expected.

The article, “How Hurricane Patricia Quickly Became a Monster Storm,” will have a drastic effect on readers yet to discover it. It is extremely important that people know a hurricane could hit, even when you least expect it. Hurricane Patricia was very late in the season, but it was still extremely powerful and even deadly. This also opened the eyes of many meteorologists. No one thought a late season hurricane would grow so violently, but it did with the help of el Niño. In future, scientists will keep a closer eye on this. Our lives are less affected than those in Mexico. We live on the Atlantic, so el Niño will not pass over us. On the other hand, there could always be a rough storm like hurricane Sandy hitting us.

Overall, I think the article “How Hurricane Patricia Quickly Became a Monster Storm” was very well written. It was shorts and crisp and got the the point, instantly shooting out facts at you. At the same time, the writing style was enticing and kept me interested. One thing I found annoying was that the article did not state anything about when the hurricane hit. This was because it hit on the day the article was published, and so I took the matter into my own hands. I conducted more research, which is how I learned about the victims of the hurricane. One thing I really appreciated was the use of words. Throughout the entire piece, descriptive words made the writing come alive and keep me interesting until the end. In conclusion, this article was well throughout and should be read by many more people interested in the topic.