... Otis struck the southwest of Mexico as a Category 5 storm on Wednesday and caused widespread devastation, destroying buildings, causing floods and shutting down communications. The storm has so far killed at least 27 people, according to the Mexican government. Wind speeds of 165 miles per hour were recorded, Reuters said.
A video shot from a helicopter over Acapulco, a city of approximately 900,000 people, illustrates the extent of the destruction.
The footage posted on X, formerly Twitter, by user Volcaholic shows the beach resort ravaged by the hurricane, with numerous boats in the harbor and bay upturned or submerged. Debris from buildings and trees can be seen strewn over what would usually be popular spots for tourists and locals.
A GIF posted by severe weather follower Nahel Belgherze shows a before and after of an apartment block, with the glazed shell of the building almost completely blown out.
Belgherze said on Twitter: "Hurricane Otis will more than likely go down as one of the costliest tropical cyclones ever recorded on Earth. Acapulco has literally been torn apart. Destruction everywhere."
The hurricane flooded a local hospital, which had to evacuate its staff and patients, Reuters said....
The hurricane was fueled by a surge of ocean warmth, which is becoming more common as global temperatures increase. Otis's wind speeds increased by about 110 mph within 24 hours, meaning people in areas such as Acapulco had little time to prepare.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described Otis as a "life-threatening storm surge" which would bring large and dangerous waves, destructive winds and heavy rainfall. America's National Hurricane Center said: "There are no hurricanes on record even close to this intensity for this part of Mexico."
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
As fearsome as Category 5 hurricanes can be for people living in harm's way, a new study reports global warming is supercharging some of the most intense cyclones with winds high enough to merit a hypothetical Category 6....
They used a hypothetical Category 6, with a minimum threshold of 192 mph, to study hurricanes that have occurred in the modern satellite era, since around 1980. They found five hurricanes and typhoons that would have met the criteria and all five occurred within the last decade....
The Saffir-Simpson scale categorizes hurricanes.
...
This infrared satellite image shows Hurricane Patricia over the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 23, 2015.
Which storms fit the study’s hypothetical Category 6 description?
One hurricane in the eastern Pacific, Patricia, and four typhoons in the western Pacific:
Haiyan, November 2013: Struck the southern Philippines with 196-mph winds and a storm surge of almost 25 feet, killing 6,300 people and leaving 4 million homeless.
Patricia, October 2015: Reached winds of 216 mph at sea, then dropped before it made landfall in Jalisco, Mexico as a Category 4 storm.
Meranti, September 2016: Moved between the Philippines and Taiwan before making landfall in eastern China. Its winds reached 196 mph.
Goni, November 2020: Made landfall in the Philippines with winds estimated at 196 mph.
Surigae, April 2021: Reached wind speeds of 196 mph over the ocean, tracking east of the Philippines. Its max winds were the highest ever recorded for a storm from January to April anywhere in the world.
Crap
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
Haiyan, November 2013: Struck the southern Philippines with 196-mph winds and a storm surge of almost 25 feet, killing 6,300 people and leaving 4 million homeless.