00:28 Pilots Take Aircraft Into the Eye of Hurricane Patricia This video, taken on October 22, shows NOAAs Lockheed WP-3D Orion passing though the eye wall of Hurricane Patricia.

Hurricane Patricia smashed records for intensity in the Western Hemisphere before raking into southwest Mexico three years ago this week.

Patricia's maximum sustained winds topped out at an incredible 215 mph (185 knots) on Oct. 23, 2015, when Patricia was spinning off the coast of Mexico in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center's final report issued in February 2016.

This was 15 mph higher than the 200-mph winds stated in advisories issued by the NHC when the hurricane was ongoing, which already made it the strongest hurricane on record in either the eastern Pacific or Atlantic Ocean basins.

(MORE: Storm Chaser Intercepts Patricia )

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/patricia-gfx.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/patricia-gfx.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/patricia-gfx.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Track history of Hurricane Patricia and satellite image showing Patricia near its maximum intensity at 5:23 a.m. EDT on Oct. 23, 2015. (Image: CIRA/RAMMB, NOAA) (Image: CIRA/RAMMB, NOAA)

The NHC report estimated Patricia's suface pressure bottomed out at 872 millibars on Oct. 23, the lowest on record in the Western Hemisphere, and the second lowest on record for the world just behind the 870 millibars observed in Supertyphoon Tip in 1979.

Tropical cyclone strength comparisons are typically based on minimum central pressure. In general, a lower pressure means a more intense hurricane.

Patricia shattered the eastern Pacific basin's previous record of 902 millibars set by Hurricane Linda in 1997.

(MORE: Stunning Meteorological Images of Patricia )

Patricia made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with top winds of 150 mph near Playa Cuixmala in Jalisco state of southwest Mexico on Oct. 23 at 6:15 p.m. CDT.

Although the core of Patricia's strongest winds impacted a sparsely populated area north of Manzanillo, it still caused severe damage in a small area.

More than 10,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and about 100,000 acres of farmland suffered significant damage. Strong winds stripped vegetation off most trees in the area and concrete power poles were knocked down. The report says that two small villages, Emiliano Zapata and Chamela, suffered the most extreme damage.

Coastal flooding lasted several days from the states of Jalisco to Guererro, with damage to structures and beach erosion. There was severe flooding in the mountainous terrain of southern Mexico, as well.

Patricia caused an estimated $325 million in damage.

(MORE: Before and After Images of Mexico )

Two direct deaths were attributed to Patricia in Jalisco state after a tree fell on a campsite in the Tapalpa forest.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/patricia-foliage.gif" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/patricia-foliage.gif 400w, https://s.w-x.co/patricia-foliage.gif 800w" > Before and after images showing the vegetation stripped from trees before and after Hurricane Patricia made landfall. (John Galetzka) (John Galetzka)

Patricia rapidly intensified as maximum sustained winds with the storm increased an incredible 120 mph in a 24-hour window from 85 mph at 1 a.m. CDT on Oct. 22 to 205 mph at 1 a.m. CDT Oct. 23.

The pressure drop of 97 millibars in 24 hours ending on Oct. 23 at 7 a.m. CDT was one of the most intense rapid intensification events by pressure on record , according to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division.

NOAA Hurricane Hunter crews experienced extreme updrafts and downdrafts in Patricia at its peak intensity.

They went through a rapid change between 3.0G - 3 times the force of gravity - and -1.5G - weightlessness - in the eyewall roller coaster. At the level the flight crews were flying, winds were estimated to be around 220 mph.

(MORE: Most Harrowing Flights in Hurricane Hunter History )

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/noaa_hh_-_lt_adam_abitbol_p3_pilot_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/noaa_hh_-_lt_adam_abitbol_p3_pilot_0.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/noaa_hh_-_lt_adam_abitbol_p3_pilot_0.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > A view from the cockpit of a NOAA P-3 reconnaissance aircraft showing on-board radar of Hurricane Patricia near its maximum intensity. (Lt. Adam Abitbol, NOAA/AOC) (Lt. Adam Abitbol, NOAA/AOC)

Patricia weakened rapidly before landfall, undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle, but still managed to set a record low pressure for any Mexico Pacific hurricane landfall, estimated at 932 millibars.

Incredibly, just 30 hours after peaking in intensity as the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured in the Western Hemisphere, former Hurricane Patricia degenerated into a weak remnant low over northeast Mexico, its small circulation ripped apart over higher terrain inland.

While a number of typhoons in the western North Pacific have been stronger, Patricia is by far the strongest hurricane on record in any basin where the term "hurricane" applies to tropical cyclones – namely, the central and eastern North Pacific basins and the North Atlantic basin, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean itself plus the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.