Will Hurricane Patricia Hit Texas, California Or Louisiana? Which American States Will Be Impacted By The Storm?

Hurricane Patricia crept closer to the Pacific coast of Mexico Friday afternoon, and meteorologists expected that the mammoth storm would make landfall that evening. From there, the storm would move northeast and entirely through the country.

Parts of lower Texas and Louisiana are expected to ultimately feel the effects of the storm; however, it appeared unlikely that Patricia would be anywhere near the level of intensity she was at Friday. As the storm moves through the mountainous regions in its projected path, the wind severity is expected to attenuate.

But that could still be significant for Texas, which has been getting quite a bit of rain lately in some areas. It is expected that parts of the Lone Star State could see up to 10 inches of rain. That rainfall will only be remnants of the storm, however. Louisiana and Arkansas are also expected to get some moisture from Patricia.

There is, however, still some danger from that rainfall. In parts of Texas where a long-term drought is present, a deluge of water on the parched earth could cause flash floods.

Hurricane Patricia has been called the strongest hurricane ever recorded and had wind speeds reach as fast as 200 miles per hour. Mexican weather agencies have said that those speeds make Patricia the “most dangerous storm in history.”

Robert Ramirez, the head of Conagua, a Mexican national weather service, said that classification includes all cyclones that have been measured in the world, not just Mexico, according to CNN.

The storm's intensity has been compared to others, however. The contender mentioned most frequently is Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 6,000 people in 2013 when it battered the Philippines. Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in 2005, was a Category 3 hurricane. Patricia is a Category 5.