Environment

Hurricane Rick a Category 5 Storm: Expected to Strike Baja Coast

by Amy Judd | October 17, 2009 at 07:46 am

608 views | 59 Recommendations | 2 comments

Hurricane Rick has strengthened in to a category 5 storm and it is now being described as 'extremely dangerous'. It is situated off Mexico's Pacific coast and forecasters are expecting it to strike the Baja California Peninsula in about five days.

It currently has winds of 160 mph but is expected to lose some of that strength before hitting land; it could hit land as only a category one in about five days if predicitons are correct. It is about 280 miles off Acapulco today and is moving west-northwest. It is expected to stay off the coast for a few days still.

Meteorologist Jessica Schauer told The Associated Press that warm waters fueled Rick's rapid jump from Category 1 to Category 4 in only about 36 hours.

"Right now it's over very warm water and the current forecast track keeps it over warm water for quite a while," she said.

Warnings have been issued for extreme weather in coastal areas and residents that could be affected are on alert.

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158

at 15:48 on October 17th, 2009

It seems that Baha has had a lot of hurricanes near it this year.

patgarcia

at 15:00 on October 18th, 2009

I´m in shock, this year has represented a lot of tension for us...... another one. Oh no!

Authorities in the state haven´t made any emergency announcements yet, I was informed about this by the Chief of the Red Cross Rescue Team in the city of La Paz.

Yet it has started raining already.