Hurricane Patricia

As Patricia, the biggest storm ever recorded in the western hemisphere, made landfall on the Mexican west coast on Friday Bill Patzert, climatologist at Nasa’s jet propulsion laboratory explained its origins. The current El Niño was “high-octane fuel for hurricanes” because it had “piled up a tremendous volume of warm water in the eastern Pacific”.

The water temperature is 30.5C (87F), close to a record high and about 2C above average, creating ideal conditions for strong hurricanes. There is more energy to create stronger winds and pick up more moisture. The exceptional sea temperature is a combination of the very strong El Niño and climate change, which is raising average sea temperatures across the globe.