Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

...Rick continues to intensify quickly...expected to become a
hurricane later today...
At 200 am PDT...0900 UTC...the center of Tropical Storm Rick was
located near latitude 12.5 north...longitude 98.7 west or about 315
miles...505 km...south-southeast of Acapulco Mexico.

Rick is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph...15 km/hr.
This general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of
days with a slight increase in forward speed by Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 65 mph...100
km/hr...with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast
during the next 48 hours...and Rick is expected to become a
hurricane later today.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 60 miles...95 km
from the center.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 994 mb...29.35 inches.
...Summary of 200 am PDT information...
location...12.5n 98.7w
maximum sustained winds...65 mph
present movement...west-northwest or 285 degrees at 9 mph
minimum central pressure...994 mb

the next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
800 am PDT.

Lets hope it stays away from the Guaymas, San Carlos, Empalme area.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tr ... 00920.html
...Rick becomes the seventh hurricane of the eastern North Pacific
season...
At 800 am PDT...1500 UTC...the center of Hurricane Rick was located
near latitude 12.7 north...longitude 99.4 west or about 290 miles...
470 km...south of Acapulco Mexico.

Rick is moving toward the west near 9 mph...15 km/hr...and this
motion is expected to continue during the next two days.

Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph...120 km/hr...with higher
gusts. Substantial strengthening is forecast during the next 48
hours and Rick may become a major hurricane on Saturday.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles...55 km...from
the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 70
miles...110 km.

Estimated minimum central pressure is 987 mb...29.15 inches.

Outer rainbands associated with Rick may impact the southeastern
Mexico coast today.
...Summary of 800 am PDT information...
location...12.7n 99.4w
maximum sustained winds...75 mph
present movement...west or 280 degrees at 9 mph
minimum central pressure...987 mb

the next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
200 PM PDT.

The computer models seem to show it hooking back to the east on Wed. Not a good thing for the Baja. Let's hope it continues west and out to sea.

Rick is now a hurricane, this is a link to the computer projection of his path. I check Weather Underground daily during this season, as do most people in the zone. It's a good site.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/ep200920_5day.html#a_topad

These storm names are getting tamer and tamer. Now in Asia, they know how to name their weather phenomena - remember typhoon Long Wang?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Longwang

They should pick professional wrestler names - now THAT would get people's attention!

Statement as of 3:15 am PDT on October 17, 2009

...Rick now an extremely dangerous category four hurricane...
At 315 am PDT...1015 UTC...the center of Hurricane Rick was located
near latitude 14.0 north...longitude 102.3 west or about 255 miles
...410 km...southwest of Acapulco Mexico and about 370 miles...595
km...south-southeast of Manzanillo Mexico.

Rick is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph...19 km/hr...
and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days.
On this 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 135 mph...215
km/hr...with higher gusts. Rick is now an extremely dangerous
category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Additional
strengthening is forecast during the next 36 hours...and Rick
could be near category five hurricane by tonight.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles...55 km...from
the center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105
miles...165 km.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 948 mb...27.99 inches.
Outer rainbands associated with Rick will continue to affect the
southern coast of Mexico through tonight.

...Summary of 315 am PDT information...
location...14.0n 102.3w
maximum sustained winds...135 mph
present movement...west-northwest or 290 degrees at 12 mph
minimum central pressure...948 mb

the next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
800 am PDT.

According to our local weather news, Rick is now the second most powerful storm ever recorded in the Eastern Pacific! According to their model, it is projected to strike the most southern tip of Baja and then head across Northern Mexico.

It's not looking good, that's for sure. That area has already been hit this year and those double hits in one year are really hard to recover from. I am hoping Rick decides not to turn east as all of the models predict. How he got to be a Cat 5 so fast when they were all predicting he would weaken is the reason you can never take your virtual eyes off these storms.