Rick Strengthens to Cat 5 Hurricane

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Rick Intensifies to a Ferocious Category 5 Hurricane Near Mexico’s Pacific Coast

Rick is now an extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane headed toward Baja California peninsula.

Satellite imagery indicates that Rick has maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

A Category 5 hurricane, the highest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, Rick could cause catastrophic damage in its path and beyond.

As of posting, Rick is about 370km (230 miles) south of Manzanillo, Mexico, and threatens to turn toward the Mexican coast on Tuesday, pummeling Baja California by early Thursday, on to mainland Mexico to dump an unprecedented amount of rain.

Rick is the  seventh hurricane of the season in eastern north Pacific.

GOES Northern Hemisphere Composite SECTOR IR Image

Hurricane Rick  at Cat 5  Strength – Northern Hemisphere Composite Sector (IR Ch 4) – still image dated as inset. Click image to enlarge and update.

Unenhanced satellite image of Rick at Cat 5 strength showing textbook eye and near-perfect symmetry

Hurricane Rick – Cat 5 – Still image – Dated as inset. Click image to enlarge and update.

Coastal Watches/Warnings and 5-Day Track Forecast Cone

Still image – Dated as inset. Click image to enlarge and update.

Tropical Storm Force Wind Speed Probabilities – 120 Hours

Still image – Dated as inset. Click image to enlarge and update.

GOES Full Disk East IR- Still image. Click image to enlarge and update. [Images are updated every three (3) hours.]

Other Images of Rick

Hurricane Rick – Cat 5 – AVNColor enhancement-  Still image – Dated as inset. Click image to enlarge and update.

NOAA Polar Mapped Mosaic Composites Showing Typhoon Lupit and Hurricane Rick

Still image – Dated as inset. Click image to enlarge and update.

Other Satellite Images

GOES Satellite: East Pacific :  Hurricane Rick(EP20)

• Visible  Image – Java – Flash
• IR AVN  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Shortwave  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Dvorak*  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Unenhanced  Image – Java – Flash
• IR JSL  Image – Java – Flash
• IR RGB  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Funktop  Image – Java – Flash
• IR Rainbow  Image – Java – Flash
• Water Vapor  Image – Java – Flash

Additional Images:

• FEWW Satellite Imagery List

Related Links:

• Rick Strengthens to a Major Hurricane

Andres Strengthens to Hurricane Off Mexico PC

Hurricane Andres swipes Mexico’s SW coast with 120 kph winds and rain

Tropical Storm Andres strengthened into the Pacific season’s first hurricane of 2009, toppling trees, flooding streets and homes and killing at least one as it battered Mexico’s southwestern coast with 120 kph winds.

Hurricane Andres frame freeze from GOES Imagery – IR Rainbow Enhancement Curve. NOAA/ NWS / NHC

Hurricane Andres frame freeze from GOES Floater Imagery – Funktop Enhancement – Updated every 30 mins. NOAA/ NWS / NHC

Tropical Storm Force Wind Speed Probabilities – 120 Hours

Coastal Watches/Warnings and 5-Day Track Forecast Cone

Hurricane ANDRES Public Advisory 9A

Hurricane Details

• Source: NHC
• Forecaster: Kimberlain/ Beven
• Date and Time:  Jun 23,  2009  at 17:00 PDT
• Warning area: SW coast of Mexico from Punto San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes.  [Interests elsewhere along the western coast of Mexico and the southern Baja peninsula should monitor the progress of Andres. ]
• Current Location:  The center of hurricane Andres was located near latitude 19.0 n, longitude 105.6 w  or about 110 km west of Manzanillo Mexico and about 155 km south of Cabo Corrientes Mexico.
• Category and Wind Speed:   Maximum sustained winds are estimated at 120 km/hr with higher gusts.  Andres is a category one hurricane on the Ssaffir-Simpson scale.  Weakening is forecast during the next day or two. [See Also FEWW Hurricane Scale]
• Direction: Andres is moving toward the northwest at 20 km/hr.  This motion is expected to continue during the next day or so followed by a turn toward the west-northwest with a gradual decrease in forward speed.  On the forecast track Andres will continue passing very close to or over the coast of southwestern Mexico
  tonight.
• Wind Force Extent:  Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 km from the center, tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 110 km. [Manzanillo Mexico recently reported a wind gust of 76 km/hr.
• Estimated minimum central pressure: 988 mb (29.18 inches).

Notes: Andres is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 7 to 15 cm  (3 to 6 in) over portions of west-central Mexico with possible isolated maximum amounts of  20 cm (8 in).

Related Links:

• National Hurricane Center
• FEWW New Hurricane Scale