Hurricane Patricia, strongest ever recorded

Patricia -- the strongest hurricane ever recorded --is getting closer and closer Friday morning to Mexico's Pacific coast, where residents have been told to brace for its 325 km/h sustained winds and torrential rains. (Source: CNN and National Hurricane Center)

“The most intense tropical cyclones are expected to intensify from anthropogenic climate change. Therefore, storms like Patricia may become more likely in the future, but the cause of an individual storm cannot be directly attributed to climate change.”
- Timothy Merlis

Timothy Merlis, Assistant Professor in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University.
Expertise: His research is focused on climate dynamics including tropical meteorology, climate sensitivity, the ocean-atmosphere general circulation, and the atmospheric hydrological cycle. He tries to understand the physical mechanisms underlying changes in both past and future climates.
Contact: timothy.merlis [at] mcgill.ca. He answers in English.