Which Was the Strongest Hurricane Ever Recorded?

Hurricane Patricia formed in the eastern Pacific off Mexico in October 2015. On 23 October it reached maximum sustained winds of about 345 km/h and a central pressure of 872 hectopascals, the lowest ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. It strengthened from a tropical storm into a Category 5 hurricane in roughly 24 hours, an exceptionally rapid rate. Patricia weakened before landfall in a sparsely populated part of Jalisco, which helped limit casualties. The lowest pressure ever measured in a tropical cyclone, 870 hectopascals, belongs to Typhoon Tip in 1979.