NASA/NOAA track record breaking Hurricane Patricia

[gary]

NASA/NOAA satellites have been tracking the progress of Hurricane Patricia
off the southwestern coast of Mexico.



NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured images that have been turned into an animation and which can be viewed here -
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/patricia-eastern-pacific-2015

The Sydney Morning Herald also reports here in a story entitled "Hurricane Patricia: Hemisphere's strongest ever hurricane bearing down on Mexico"
by Brian K. Sullivan and Kelly Gilblom.
See http://www.smh.com.au/world/hurricane-patricia-hemispheres-strongest-ever-hurricane-bearing-down-on-mexico-20151023-gkhff8.html


NOAA reported earlier this week (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34614864)that "for the first nine months of 2015, average surface temperatures are running at 0.85 degrees above the
20th-century average, exceeding the previous equal warm stints in 2010 and 2014 by 0.12 degrees."




That story here -
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-graphic-that-shows-why-2015-global-temperatures-are-off-the-charts-20151021-gkf8b0.html

Meantime the BBC is reporting that "Mexican authorities have begun evacuating residents ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Patricia."

"A state of emergency has been declared in three states in Patricia's path."

"The category five hurricane is expected to make landfall in the next few hours, with winds of 305km/h (190mph)."

BBC story here - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34614864

[casstony]

The strongest wind speeds I've experienced were gusts to 100kph and the trees in our yard seemed to be barely hanging on; I can't imagine gusts with 10 times the force.
(force varies as the square of the speed).

[gary]

Hi Tony,

That relationship of drag increasing as the square of speed is
one that Formula 1 commentators often quote.

If you have ever stood trackside and watched an F1 car streak past,
it is jaw dropping to see.

When you consider the wind speeds of Patricia are as fast an F1 car,
that is a frightening thought.

Patricia's influence has already been felt as far away as Austin in Texas
where the US Grand Prix is being held this weekend.

The second practice was cancelled owing to the rain and qualifying
on Saturday may be postponed to Sunday.

Next week's race was to be held in Mexico City but that may also be
re-scheduled.

Meantime on the west coast of Mexico, our thoughts are with the millions
of people about to be affected by the storm.

[casstony]

Imagine replacing the cars with houses - they might be looking pretty shabby by the end of the first lap.

It sounds like they shifted a lot of people into shelters ahead of the storm so hopefully there won't be a repeat of the Haiyan death toll.

[gary]

Hi Tony,

When you consider that drag is also proportional to the cross-sectional
area of an object, it is an unnerving situation to be faced with.

The cars are designed to slip through the air, but as you highlight, houses
generally aren't.

At around 2pm Australian Eastern Summer Time, Patricia made
landfall in western Mexico, making it the strongest ever recorded in
the Americas.

It has apparently eased to category 4 and initial reports are that thankfully
there was no storm surge. However, flash flooding and landslides are predicted.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Gary

Just to clarify


Not quite true, as the drag coefficient of the object has to be taken into account. Its more related to the "affected surface area" than cross sectional area.
( Part of one of my final year projects involved measuring airflow through radiators :-( )

That said, a house going down the straight alongside an F1 car at 300kph, would probably generate a tad more drag :-)
Probably more exciting to watch the house:lol:

Andrew

[gary]

Hi Andrew,

I was aware of that - the "area" is typically closer to the orthographic projection of the object multiplied by a drag coefficient - but I thought
it simpler for these purposes to simply post "cross-sectional area". :)