page_title: Hurricane Sandra (2015)
section_title: Preparations and impact
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Sandra (2015) / Preparations and impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Hurricane Sandra (22E) over Mexico
context_page_description: Hurricane Sandra was the latest-forming major hurricane in the northeastern Pacific basin, the strongest November Pacific hurricane on record, and the record eleventh major hurricane of the 2015 Pacific hurricane season. Originating from a tropical wave, Sandra was first classified as a tropical depression on November 23 well south of Mexico. Environmental conditions, including high sea surface temperatures and low wind shear, were highly conducive to intensification and the storm quickly organized. A small central dense overcast developed atop the storm and Sandra reached hurricane status early on November 25 after the consolidation of an eye. Sandra reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale with winds of 150 mph and a pressure of 934 mbar early on November 26. This made Sandra the strongest November hurricane on record in the Northeastern Pacific. Thereafter, increasing shear degraded the hurricane's structure and weakening ensued. Rapid weakening took place on November 27 and Sandra's circulation became devoid of convection as it diminished to a tropical storm that evening.
context_section_description: The precursor to Sandra produced unseasonably heavy rains across parts of Central America, leading to flooding. In Nicaragua, flooding affected 55 homes and destroyed 1, primarily in Managua. A total of 56 families required evacuation. Local officials blamed the flooding on trash-clogged drains. Five people were injured in the Nueva Segovia Department when an ambulance crashed on a foggy, rain-slicked road. A landslide in Cucuyagua, Honduras, destroyed a home killing a 25-day-old baby and injuring four others. In Nueva Esparta, El Salvador, two people drowned after being swept away by the swollen El Amatal River. Flooding in Ozatlán killed one person and inundated homes in Jiquilisco, prompting the evacuation of 14 families.
  Moisture from Sandra streamed northward into the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley and contributed to widespread rainfall and flooding. Heavy rains affected portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex received 3.45 in (88 mm) of rain on November 27, their wettest November day on record; this total contributed to breaking the city's wettest-year on record.
caption: Hurricane Sandra succumbing to strong wind shear on November 27. Note part of the low-level circulation exposed on the west side of the central dense overcast
exif: {}