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Cat 5 Major Hurricane Patricia


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I think you're focusing too much on the winds. Most of Mexico's deadliest tropical cyclone-related disasters have resulted from flash floods/heavy rainfall, not extreme winds (including the 1959 hurricane, most of whose 1,000+ deaths were from mudslides).

Not at all. I was simply stating that it's likely that many lives will be saved as a result of the significant decrease in the MSW than otherwise would've been the case.

No way was I, or am I, remotely suggesting this is anything less than an extremely dangerous and likely very devastating storm!

To reiterate, my post was directly related to the reduction in wind speed...nothing more and nothing less!

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Hope you're joking! This substantial reduction in intensity likely has saved many lives.

Depends where the 200 mph core came in. If it was an extremely rural area, it's possible less lives would be lost due the the extremely small max wind core. Now that the core has collapsed somewhat the winds are probably spreading out and have the potential to affect a larger area.
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To keep this in its proper perspective...imagine if Patricia had never intensified to such an extraordinary intensity and was threatening to make landfall as a high-end category-four hurricane.

That's the reality of this situation, and by no means is this anything less than an extremely dangerous and potentially devastating event!

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Depends where the 200 mph core came in. If it was an extremely rural area, it's possible less lives would be lost due the the extremely small max wind core. Now that the core has collapsed somewhat the winds are probably spreading out and have the potential to affect a larger area.

 

 

Great point.  Somewhat less intense conditions in the bullseye region but perhaps more areas getting in on heavy winds. 

The inland hills are going to have some monster gusts.

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Inland towns appear to be mostly in valleys and fairly deep ones that may not channel much wind. I think mudslides will be the only issue away from the coast. Speaking of which, we will know fairly soon just how strong the landfall is, and it could be almost right over Josh's location. I saw that he was tweeting as recently as an hour ago (from EZ). I asked those people at the resort west of Punta Perula to e-mail me any observations when they have a chance. I don't know if their comms are down or whatever, this track has saved them, I think, from any risk of total devastation. Not so optimistic about Punta Perula but hopeful anyway, a cat-3 weak side of eyewall without a massive storm surge there would probably be largely survivable. San Mateo is far enough inland that a direct hit there would not involve surge except across some of their farmland perhaps (going by the images on google earth). Cayeres looks very small but I would be most concerned about that area for combined wind and storm surge.

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Not at all. I was simply stating that it's likely that many lives will be saved as a result of the significant decrease in the MSW than otherwise would've been the case.

No way was I, or am I, remotely suggesting this is anything less than an extremely dangerous and likely very devastating storm!

To reiterate, my post was directly related to the reduction in wind speed...nothing more and nothing less!

I don't think that the decrease in winds necessarily saved many lives. Even in the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, most of the deaths were from surge, not directly related to the extreme (160+ kt) winds. Remember how relatively few people died in Andrew, Charley, Dean, etc.--the intensely windy micro-monsters--compared to those who died in weaker or weakening but larger storms like Katrina, Ike, Sandy, 1915 New Orleans, Rita, etc. And the majority of those deaths were from water. People forget time and time again that the deadliest killers, even in the most powerful cyclones, have been storm surge and inland flooding.

Most of Mexico's deadliest tropical cyclone-related disasters, including the 1959 hurricane (1,000+ deaths), were from mudslides and flash flooding due to heavy rainfall, not extreme winds. Patricia will likely deliver inland rainfall of 20-25"+ in some areas, especially over mountainous terrain. This is the story that should be getting at least as much play as the winds. And as others have mentioned, a weaker but larger wind field still retains considerable energy and would produce more/higher storm surge over a larger area than would a tightly wound, 150+ kt monster.

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Reminds me of how Katrina fell apart right before landfall. I remember some newscasters on the cable networks talking about New Orleans "dodged a bullet", but as daylight broke it was clear something catastrophic was taking place. Obviously that was a unique circumstance, but it's important to remember that for some people this still has the potential to be extremely devastating even if it's significantly weaker than at it's peak.

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I don't think that the decrease in winds necessarily saved many lives. Even in the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, most of the deaths were from surge, not directly related to the extreme (160+ kt) winds. Remember how relatively few people died in Andrew, Charley, Dean, etc.--the intensely windy micro-monsters--compared to those who died in weaker or weakening but larger storms like Katrina, Ike, Sandy, 1915 New Orleans, Rita, etc. And the majority of those deaths were from water. People forget time and time again that the deadliest killers, even in the most powerful cyclones, have been storm surge and inland flooding.

Most of Mexico's deadliest tropical cyclone-related disasters, including the 1959 hurricane (1,000+ deaths), were from mudslides and flash flooding due to heavy rainfall, not extreme winds. Patricia will likely deliver inland rainfall of 20-25"+ in some areas, especially over mountainous terrain. This is the story that should be getting at least as much play as the winds. And as others have mentioned, a weaker but larger wind field still retains considerable energy and would produce more/higher storm surge over a larger area than would a tightly wound, 150+ kt monster.

It's all speculative for one to determine whether or not this significant reduction in wind speed has ultimately saved more lives than would've been the case otherwise. We'll never know the answer to that question.

More importantly, I'm well aware of the point you're making and have always known the dangers of flooding (whether by storm surge or copious amounts of rain).

This is a foolish and unnecessary debate whereby I've never stated the dangers are any less disconcerting or less lives overall will be saved...just that "many lives have likely been saved"...and I stand by that comment. If necessary, please reread my initial post from the proper perspective for which it was made.

To reiterate, I was replying to a poster who stated it was a disappointment that there wasn't going to be a 200 mph hurricane landfall and simply made the point that many lives were likely spared as a result of the substantial weakening. I didn't say less lives overall have been spared...huge difference...and is where you are misunderstanding and misinterpreting my comments.

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Reminds me of how Katrina fell apart right before landfall. I remember some newscasters on the cable networks talking about New Orleans "dodged a bullet", but as daylight broke it was clear something catastrophic was taking place. Obviously that was a unique circumstance, but it's important to remember that for some people this still has the potential to be extremely devastating even if it's significantly weaker than at it's peak.

Totally agree!

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