\n<\/p>\n
While most attention is usually paid to Atlantic Basin hurricanes, an Eastern Pacific hurricane set a global and hemispheric record 10 years ago, but then had little impact at landfall.<\/p>\n
On Oct. 23, 2015, 10 years ago this morning, Hurricane Patricia reached its peak intensity in the eastern Pacific Ocean about 150 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico.<\/p>\n
That it was a Category 5<\/a> at the time was attention-grabbing enough.<\/p>\n But taking advantage of much warmer than average ocean water, Patricia’s estimated maximum sustained winds reached 215 mph that morning, the fastest sustained winds of any tropical cyclone anywhere on Earth, according to NOAA’s records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Its lowest estimated surface pressure of 872 millibars was lower than only one other storm globally, 1979’s Super Typhoon Tip in the Western Pacific Basin (870 millibars).<\/p>\n