(CNN)Hurricane Willa is nearing the Pacific coast of Mexico as a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm, after experiencing what the National Hurricane Center called “explosive” strengthening over the past 48 hours.
Willa’s maximum sustained winds dipped slightly to 155 mph Monday evening. On Monday morning, they were 160 mph, making Willa a top-of-the-scale hurricane. Its current intensity is about the same as Hurricane Michael’s when it made landfall in Florida’s Panhandle less than two weeks ago.
The storm has supercharged at an incredible rate since it formed over the weekend. From Sunday morning to Monday morning, Hurricane Willa strengthened 80 mph in 24 hours, and went from forming into a tropical storm on Saturday morning to a Category 5 in less than 48 hours.
