Hurricane Otis

Epic card · No. 2922

Hurricane Otis was a compact but very powerful tropical cyclone that made a devastating landfall near the Mexican city of Acapulco as a Category 5 hurricane in October 2023. Otis was the first Pacific hurricane on record to make landfall at Category 5 intensity and became the strongest Pacific hurricane to make landfall, surpassing Hurricane Patricia of 2015. The resulting damage made Otis the costliest tropical cyclone to strike Mexico on record, surpassing Hurricane Wilma of 2005. The fifteenth tropical storm, tenth hurricane, eighth major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2023 Pacific hurricane season, Otis originated from a disturbance several hundred miles south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Initially forecast to stay offshore and to only be a weak tropical storm at peak intensity, Otis instead underwent explosive intensification to reach peak winds of 165 mph (270 km/h) and weakened only slightly before making landfall as a powerful Category 5 hurricane. Once inland...

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