Hurricane Rick was the second-most intense Pacific hurricane on record and the strongest to ever form during October. Developing south of Mexico on October 15, 2009, Rick traversed an area favoring rapid intensification, allowing it to become a hurricane within 24 hours of being declared a tropical depression. An eye began to form during the afternoon of October 16; once fully formed, the storm underwent another period of rapid strengthening. During the afternoon of October 17, the storm attained Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. Several hours later, Rick attained its peak intensity as the second-strongest Pacific hurricane on record with winds of 180 mph. After maintaining this intensity for several hours, Rick began to weaken in response to a combination of an eyewall replacement cycle and increasing wind shear. On October 21, Rick quickly moved northeast, brushing the tip of Baja California Sur before making landfall near Mazatlán with winds of 55 mph (90 km/h). Several hours after moving inland, the final advisory from the NHC was issued as the storm weakened to a tropical depression and dissipated. Overall, the damage from Rick was significantly less than what was initially anticipated. Throughout Mexico, three people were killed by the storm, one in Oaxaca and two in Baja California Sur.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Rick_%282009%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1364:
King of Poland Casimir III issued a royal charter to establish Jagiellonian University, the nation's oldest university. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagiellonian_University
1865:
American Civil War: In the last major clash of arms of the war, the Union Army engaged the Confederates along the banks of the Rio Grande east of Brownsville, Texas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Palmito_Ranch
1881:
Under the threat of invasion, the Bey of Tunis Muhammad III as-Sadiq signed the Treaty of Bardo to make Tunisia a French protectorate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_occupation_of_Tunisia
1968:
Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force began the defence of Fire Support Base Coral in the largest unit-level action of the war for the Australian Army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Coral%E2%80%93Balmoral
2006:
A cartoon that allegedly compared Iranian Azeris to cockroaches was published in an Iranian magazine, sparking riots throughout the country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_newspaper_cockroach_cartoon_controversy
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
psephology (n): The study of voting and elections http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/psephology
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own; He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today. Be fair, or foul, or rain, or shine,
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine. Not heaven itself upon the past has power;
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour. --John Dryden http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dryden