Hurricane Guillermo was the sixth strongest Pacific hurricane on record, attaining peak winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). Forming out of a tropical wave on July 30, 1997, roughly 345 mi (555 km) south of Salina Cruz, Mexico, Guillermo tracked in a steady west-northwestward direction while intensifying. The system reached hurricane status by August 1 before undergoing rapid intensification the following day. At the end of this phase, the storm attained its peak intensity as a powerful Category 5 hurricane. The storm began to weaken during the afternoon of August 5 and was downgraded to a tropical storm on August 8. On August 15, the storm reached an unusually high latitude of 41.8°N before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. The remnants persisted for more than a week as they tracked towards the northeast and later south and east before being absorbed by a larger extratropical system off the coast of California on August 24. Throughout Guillermo's extensive track, the storm never threatened any major landmass. However, owing to its extreme intensity, it produced large swells across the Pacific Ocean, affecting areas from Hawaii to coastal Mexico. Along the American Pacific coast, three people drowned because of high waves, two in Baja California and one in California.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Guillermo_(1997)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1910:

Manuel II (pictured), the last King of Portugal, fled to Gibraltar when a revolution erupted in Lisbon and the Portuguese First Republic was proclaimed the next day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_October_1910_revolution

1918:

An ammunition plant in Sayreville, New Jersey, US, exploded killing over 100 people and destroying more than 300 buildings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._A._Gillespie_Company_Shell_Loading_Plant_explosion

1941:

Willie Gillis, one of Norman Rockwell's trademark characters, debuted on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Gillis

1958:

The new constitution establishing the French Fifth Republic, France's current political regime, was introduced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic

2010:

The dam holding a waste reservoir in western Hungary collapsed, freeing 1 million cubic metres (1,300,000 cu yd) of red mud, which flooded nearby communities and killed at least nine people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajka_alumina_plant_accident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

catloaf: The loaflike form of a domestic cat sitting with paws tucked underneath the body. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/catloaf

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

For honest merit to succeed amid the tricks and intrigues which are now so lamentably common, I know is difficult; but the honor of success is increased by the obstacles which are to be surmounted. Let me triumph as a man or not at all. --Rutherford B. Hayes https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes