Three Years Ago, Hurricane Patricia Became the Record Strongest Hurricane in the Western Hemisphere With 215 MPH Winds

Patricia's maximum sustained winds topped out at an incredible 215 mph (185 knots) on Oct. 23, 2015, when Patricia was spinning off the coast of Mexico in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center's final report issued in February 2016.

This was 15 mph higher than the 200-mph winds stated in advisories issued by the NHC when the hurricane was ongoing, which already made it the strongest hurricane on record in either the eastern Pacific or Atlantic Ocean basins.

(MORE: Storm Chaser Intercepts Patricia)

The NHC report estimated Patricia's suface pressure bottomed out at 872 millibars on Oct. 23, the lowest on record in the Western Hemisphere, and the second lowest on record for the world just behind the 870 millibars observed in Supertyphoon Tip in 1979.  

Tropical cyclone strength comparisons are typically based on minimum central pressure. In general, a lower pressure means a more intense hurricane.

Patricia shattered the eastern Pacific basin's previous record of 902 millibars set by Hurricane Linda in 1997.

(MORE: Stunning Meteorological Images of Patricia)

Patricia made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with top winds of 150 mph near Playa Cuixmala in Jalisco state of southwest Mexico on Oct. 23 at 6:15 p.m. CDT.

Although the core of Patricia's strongest winds impacted a sparsely populated area north of Manzanillo, it still caused severe damage in a small area.

More than 10,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and about 100,000 acres of farmland suffered significant damage. Strong winds stripped vegetation off most trees in the area and concrete power poles were knocked down. The report says that two small villages, Emiliano Zapata and Chamela, suffered the most extreme damage.

Patricia caused an estimated $325 million in damage.

(MORE: Before and After Images of Mexico)

Two direct deaths were attributed to Patricia in Jalisco state after a tree fell on a campsite in the Tapalpa forest. 

Patricia rapidly intensified as maximum sustained winds with the storm increased an incredible 120 mph in a 24-hour window from 85 mph at 1 a.m. CDT on Oct. 22 to 205 mph at 1 a.m. CDT Oct. 23.

The pressure drop of 97 millibars in 24 hours ending on Oct. 23 at 7 a.m. CDT was one of the most intense rapid intensification events by pressure on record, according to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division.

NOAA Hurricane Hunter crews experienced extreme updrafts and downdrafts in Patricia at its peak intensity.

They went through a rapid change between 3.0G - 3 times the force of gravity - and -1.5G - weightlessness - in the eyewall roller coaster. At the level the flight crews were flying, winds were estimated to be around 220 mph.

(MORE: Most Harrowing Flights in Hurricane Hunter History)

Patricia weakened rapidly before landfall, but still managed to set a record low pressure for any Mexico Pacific hurricane landfall, estimated at 932 millibars. 

Just 30 hours after peaking in intensity as the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured in the Western Hemisphere, former Hurricane Patricia degenerated into a weak remnant low over northeast Mexico.

While a number of typhoons in the western North Pacific have been stronger, Patricia is by far the strongest hurricane on record in any basin where the term "hurricane" applies to tropical cyclones – namely, the central and eastern North Pacific basins and the North Atlantic basin, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean itself plus the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.