World’s Biggest Hurricane Ever Recorded Is Coming

While we are getting some fall showers here in the Sioux Falls area, Mexico's Pacific coast is in the crosshairs of Hurricane Patricia which became the most powerful hurricane ever measured in the Western Hemisphere on Friday morning.

The Weather Channel is reporting that Patricia is a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane capable of causing widespread destruction. Some stats:

-Maximum sustained winds reached an unprecedented 200 mph.

-Hurricane Patricia now holds the record for lowest pressure in any hurricane on record with minimum central pressure of 25.99 inches of mercury.

-Rainfall amounts of up to 12 inches. Localized amounts as high as 20 inches.

• Football Fan Curses Up A Storm In Front Of Little Kid

The eye of Patricia is expected to move onshore Friday night in western Mexico including the popular coastal resort city of Puerto Vallarta as well as Mexico's second-largest city Guadalajara.

Only one Category 5 hurricane has ever been known to make landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast. That hurricane followed a path similar to that of Hurricane Patricia and struck near Puerto Vallarta in late October 1959, causing some 1,800 deaths.