El Nino could mean stronger rain and wind storms for the South Coast

PUERTO VALLARTA (NEWS 1130) –  Hurricane Patricia is taking aim at southwestern Mexico as an enormous Category Five storm. Airports in the area are closing and tourists are checking out of hotels.

Locals and tourists are either hunkering down or trying to make a last-minute escape, ahead of what forecasters say could be a “catastrophic landfall.”

Winds are being clocked at more than 300 kilometres an hour, which is strong enough, according to the UN, to blow a plane into the air and keep it flying. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization compares Patricia’s power to that of Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,000 people dead in the Philippines two years ago.

Given this storm is largely being made more powerful by El Nino, what could that weather phenomenon mean for the weather we experience in the coming months?

Matt MacDonald with Environment Canada says that could mean strong storms for us as well, though likely not on this scale. “Most often as these tropical storms encounter or cooler waters, they tend to fall apart and break down. But if there are the proper, what we call dynamics in place, then sometimes these hurricanes can persist and give a good punch.”

MacDonald references the leftovers of Hurricane Oho hitting northern BC earlier this month as the sort of thing we could expect.

“When you have all this warm water it’s really heating the bottom layer of the atmosphere, therefore, destabilizing the air mass and helping these thunderstorms generate themselves.”

NEWS 1130 Meteorologist Russ Lacate is weighing in on this epic storm and he says it’s nothing short of fascinating, from a forecaster’s perspective.

“It’s stunning how this system blossomed from what was a disorganized tropical depression some-36 hours ago into a devastating Category 5 hurricane. There is a potential rainfall of 500 millimetres coupled with the storm surge will lead to widespread flooding and possibly mudslides as this storm moves over higher terrain inland over Mexico tonight and eventually steers towards Texas this weekend.”

“It started to take shape yesterday afternoon, but almost out of nowhere, this weather-bomb intensified into a Category 5 hurricane at a faster rate than has ever been recorded before last night. And the culprit, you guessed it, is El Nino. The sea surface temperature is 31 degrees Celsius along the coast of Mexico and that has literally poured fuel into this developing storm,” adds Lacate.