Hurricane Linda was the strongest Pacific hurricane on record. Forming
from a tropical wave on September 9, 1997, Linda steadily intensified
and reached hurricane status within 36 hours of developing.
Subsequently, it rapidly intensified, reaching winds of 185 mph
(295 km/h) and an estimated central pressure of 902 millibars
(26.65 inches of mercury). The hurricane was briefly forecast to move
toward southern California, but instead, it turned out to sea and
dissipated on September 17. It was the fifteenth tropical cyclone,
thirteenth named storm, seventh hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of
the 1997 Pacific hurricane season. While near peak intensity, Hurricane
Linda passed near Socorro Island, where it damaged meteorological
instruments. The hurricane produced high waves along the southwestern
Mexican coastline, forcing the closure of five ports. When Linda was
predicted to make landfall on California, it would have been the first
to do so since a storm in 1939. Although it did not hit the state, the
hurricane produced light to moderate rainfall across the region,
causing mudslides and flooding in the San Gorgonio Wilderness; two
houses were destroyed and 77 others were damaged, and damage totaled
$3.2 million (1997 USD, $4.3 million 2008 USD). Despite the intensity,
the name was not retired.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Linda_%281997%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI was deposed by
his Yorkist cousin, who then became King Edward IV.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_IV_of_England>
1681:
King Charles II of England granted Quaker William Penn a charter for
the Pennsylvania Colony.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Pennsylvania>
1769:
French astronomer Charles Messier first noted the Orion Nebula
(pictured), a bright nebula visible to the naked eye in the night sky
situated south of Orion's Belt, later cataloguing it as Messier 42 in
his list of Messier objects.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula>
1837:
After its population increased to over 4,000 in seven years, Chicago
was granted a city charter by the U.S. state of Illinois.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chicago%3C%21--Main_%5B%5BChicago%5D%5D_article_is_tagged_with_%7B%7Bupdate%7D%7D--%3E>
1860:
The Forth Railway Bridge, a railway bridge connecting Edinburgh to Fife
over the Firth of Forth, opened, becoming an internationally recognised
Scottish landmark.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Railway_Bridge>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
partisan (adj):
1. Adherent to a party or faction; especially, having the character of
blind, passionate, or unreasonable adherence.
2. Devoted to or biased in support of a party, group, or cause.
3.
Serving as commander of a body of detached light troops
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/partisan>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Philosophy is based on speculation, on logic, on thought, on the
synthesis of what we know and on the analysis of what we do not know.
Philosophy must include within its confines the whole content of
science, religion and art.
--P. D. Ouspensky
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._D._Ouspensky>