Cat 4 Hurricane Rick may be Cat 5 tonight or tomorrow - Mexico beware!

[malaise]

...Extremely dangerous Rick still strengthening...may become a
category five hurricane tonight...


at 200 PM PDT...2100 UTC...the center of Hurricane Rick was located
near latitude 14.8 north...longitude 104.5 west or about 290 miles
...470 km...south of Manzanillo Mexico and about 660 miles...1065 km
...South-southeast of Cabo San Lucas Mexico.


Rick is moving toward the west-northwest near 15 mph...24 km/hr...
and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple
of days. On the forecast track...the core of Rick is expected to
remain offshore of the southern coast of Mexico over the weekend as
the hurricane moves generally parallel to the coast.


Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 150 mph...
240 km/hr...with higher gusts. This makes Rick an extremely
dangerous category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Additional strengthening is forecast...and Rick could become a
category five hurricane tonight or Sunday.


Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 miles...75 km...from
the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to
155 miles...250 km.


Estimated minimum central pressure is 934 mb...27.58 inches.


Large swells generated by Rick may affect portions of the southern
coast of Mexico during the next couple of days...causing
potentially dangerous surf conditions.

Outer rainbands associated with Rick will continue to affect the
southern coast of Mexico through tonight.


...Summary of 200 PM PDT information...
location...14.8n 104.5w
maximum sustained winds...150 mph
present movement...west-northwest or 290 degrees at 15 mph
minimum central pressure...934 mb
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http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/ep200920.public.html#a_topad

[SpiralHawk]

1. Holy Guacamole

Be safe, my amigos...That's a whopper of a storm

[malaise]

2. Yep we should all be happy that

a direct hit is not on the cards. This is a massive hurricane.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Now on to global warming

we all know that we will have more cat 5... I wonder if we will get pummeled as well in San Diego.

If it does... the track has really moved North.

[malaise]

4. Doesn't look likely but you never know with hurricanes

Rick is awesome.

[Richard D]

5. I think

One of these days one of these monsters is going to make it to southern california. What a mess that would be.

[begin_within]

8. They often do make it as far as California,

but by the time they get here, they are broken up and just become a mass of hot humid air - really icky weather here. No real wind and only token raindrops, but very uncomfortable anyway.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I am thinking of even tropical storm level

that would start to prove that indeed the track is moving north.

[FreakinDJ]

19. They had a Cat 1 make landfall North of San Francisco

in the early 70s

Rare - but it is Quite Possible this one could hit Southern California

[AntiFascist]

23. Well, we could sure use the rain...

:hide:

[greytdemocrat]

20. No, we don't.

Says who? A certain ex-VP said that too and so far it hasn't happened.

I used to live in Florida near where hurricane Charley hit and I was there
in 2004. We had 4 major storms hit FL that year.

How many this year? How many last year?

I'm up in the St. Louis area now but I take issue with generalized statements
that "we all know" about anything, much less hurricane intensity in the future.

That said, Rick is a major and impressive storm. Thankfully if will probably
not have a major impact on the continental US.

[SpiralHawk]

11. Glad the Commander AWOL Bush Administration is nowhere in sight

The last thing our neighbors need would be a dose of Republicon Fail and Krappy Konzervative Kompassion, the elements that were such a plague upon our US Gulf Coast...

[malaise]

12. Isn't that the truth

:fistbump:

[Uncle Joe]

6. I wonder if that one will scrape up the coast instead of a direct hit?

Thanks for the update, malaise.:hi:

[malaise]

7. I hope so - no one needs a direct hit from Rick

Hi there Uncle Joe :hi:

[KG]

10. ay carumba!

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Points for trying

but here is the spelling for the future Ay caramba!

We should get a learning languages forum, seriously. Some phrases are just too good for situations like this one.

[malaise]

14. GEM$NBC just said Rick

is now a Cat 5 and is expected to reach land by Thursday

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Oy...

Hopefully it will not be a direct hit.

And as I said, this moves north and even reaches SD in a tropical storm ... well that is more proof of global weather change.

I feel sorry for the people who will catch the brunt of it though. They just had one cat 4 go over the southern part of the peninsula...

[malaise]

18. It sure won't be this strength

come Thursday. It's expected to weaken. Weather Channel says it will stay offshore for a while and weaken before landfall next week.

[SoCalDem]

24. and since the area it may impact is usually quite dry,

there may be some benefit...IF it weakens enough..fingers crossed

[KG]

15. blow it out your ass.

no, seriously, blow it out your ass. :eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Oy Gevalt...

Trying to be helpful, not intended as a spell flame.

SHEESHHHH!!!!

[Subdivisions]

21. I bet I see some of what's left of that thing if it comes

up through Texas.

[malaise]

25. Not sure, but Rick is now a 180mph hurricane

with gusts up to 220mph. This is no ordinary hurricane.

[RB TexLa]

22. I'm sure our anti-NAFTA anti-NAU members will be very worried over it.

:sarcasm: sadly