Which hurricane holds the record for the highest sustained winds in the Western Hemisphere?

Which hurricane holds the record for the highest sustained winds in the Western Hemisphere? Hurricane Patricia holds the record, with estimated maximum sustained winds of 215 mph.

Patricia reached its peak intensity in the eastern Pacific on October 23, 2015. At that time, the National Hurricane Center estimated one-minute sustained winds of 215 mph and a minimum central pressure of 872 millibars. Those winds made Patricia the strongest tropical cyclone ever observed in the Western Hemisphere by maximum sustained wind speed.

The storm intensified extraordinarily quickly. In about 24 hours, its sustained winds increased from 85 mph to 205 mph, while its pressure fell by approximately 95 millibars. Patricia weakened rapidly before making landfall near Cuixmala, Jalisco, Mexico, with winds estimated at 150 mph.

A frequent confusion is mixing wind records with pressure records. Patricia also holds the Western Hemisphere pressure record at 872 millibars, but the global pressure record belongs to Typhoon Tip, at 870 millibars, in 1979. Hurricane Allen previously held the Western Hemisphere wind record with 190 mph in 1980.