One-Two Punch

Felix, the second Category 5 hurricane of August, came in low to the body of Central America's Miskito Coast while, almost simultaneously, Henriette came in high along the Pacific Coast of Mexico to strike a blow to Baja California.

The cyclones are remarkable on a couple of counts. As this item in the International Herald Tribune notes:

Only two weeks earlier, Hurricane Dean struck Mexico farther up the Caribbean coast. Never before in recorded history have two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes made landfall in the same year. Only 31 Category 5 storms have been recorded in the Atlantic since record-keeping began in 1886, including 8 in the last five seasons.

Also:

According to hurricane center records dating to 1949, the only time two storms in the Atlantic and Pacific basins made landfall within the same 24-hour period was in 1992: Hurricane Lester made landfall in Baja California, Mexico, about 6 a.m. on Aug. 23, and Hurricane Andrew came ashore near Homestead, Florida, about 5 a.m. on Aug. 24.