1978 Pacific hurricane season

Infobox hurricane season
Basin=EPac
Year=1978
Track=1978 Pacific hurricane season map.png First storm formed=May 30, 1978
Last storm dissipated=October 21, 1978
Strongest storm name=Fico, Hector, and Norman
Strongest storm pressure=
Strongest storm winds=120
Average wind speed=1
Total depressions=23
Total storms=19
Total hurricanes=14
Total intense=7
Fatalities=
Da

Inflated=
five seasons=1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980The 1978 Pacific hurricane season officially began May 15, 1978, in the eastern Pacific, June 1, 1978 in the central Pacific, and officially ended 30 November, 1978. These dates conventionally delimit the period of time when tropical cyclones form in the eastern north Pacific Ocean.

Activity this year was slightly above average, with eighteen named storms forming. Five of those were tropical storms, thirteen were hurricanes, and six were major hurricanes that reached Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. In the Central Pacific, a tropical depression and a major hurricane formed.

torms

Hurricane Aletta

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=May 30
Dissipated=May 31
1-min winds=65Aletta made landfall in western Mexico as a tropical storm on May 31.

Tropical Storm Bud

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=June 17
Dissipated=June 20
1-min winds=50Bud formed on June 17 and dissipated 3 days later without affecting land.

Hurricane Carlotta

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=June 17
Dissipated=June 25
1-min winds=117Carlotta was a category 4 hurricane that did not affect land. At the time, it was the third strongest June storm.

Hurricane Daniel

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=June 26
Dissipated=July 3
1-min winds=100Daniel was a strong category three hurricane which did not affect land. It made 1978 the first season with multiple major hurricanes in June at the time.

Tropical Cyclone Five

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=June 30
Dissipated=July 2
1-min winds=30Existed between June 30 and July 2.

Tropical Storm Emilia

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=July 6
Dissipated=July 10
1-min winds=55Emilia was a short lived tropical storm which didn't affect land.

Hurricane Fico

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac


Track=Fico 1978 track.pngFormed=July 9
Dissipated=July 28
1-min winds=120
Prepressure=≤
Pressure=955Hurricane Fico was the longest-lived hurricane of the season and at the time was the longest-lasting Pacific hurricane on record. It developed from a tropical disturbance off the coast of Mexico on July 9. It moved northwestward and then westward, quickly reaching peak winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) on July 12. Moving nearly due westward, the intensity of Fico fluctuated from Category 1 to Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale for the following days, and it passed about 170 miles (275 km) south of Hawaii on July 20 with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). Fico slowly weakened as it turned to the northwest over cooler waters, and became an extratropical cyclone on July 28 to the northeast of Midway Island.

Swells from Fico, combined with swells from a storm in the Southern Hemisphere, produced rough surf throughout the Hawaiian islands. The surf destroyed one house and resulted in considerable damage along the southern coast of the island of Hawaii. No deaths were reported, and damage totaled $200,000 (1978 USD, $619,000 2006 USD).cite web|author=The State of Hawaii Data Book|year=2000|title=Geography and Environment of Hawaii|accessdate=2006-12-10|url=http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/economic/databook/db2000/sec05.pdf]

Hurricane Gilma

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=July 13
Dissipated=July 20
1-min winds=100Gilma was a short-lived storm which did not affect land.

Hurricane Hector

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=July 22
Dissipated=July 29
1-min winds=120Hector was the strongest storm of this year, but didn't affect land.

Tropical Cyclone Ten

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=August 8
Dissipated=August 8
1-min winds=30Existed on August 8.

Hurricane Iva

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=August 11
Dissipated=August 15
1-min winds=65Iva's scattered remnants caused rain on the islands of Hawaii and Maui.

Tropical Depression 10A

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=August 7
Dissipated=August 9
1-min winds=30Existed in the Central Pacific. This system was labeled Tropical Depression 10-A by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Hurricane John

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=August 18
Dissipated=August 31
1-min winds=90John was a category 2 storm that didn't affect land.

Hurricane Kristy

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=August 18
Dissipated=August 28
1-min winds=90Kristy was a category 2 storm that didn't affect land.

Tropical Storm Lane

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=August 19
Dissipated=August 24
1-min winds=50Lane was a storm that didn't affect land.

Hurricane Miriam

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=August 23
Dissipated=September 1
1-min winds=80Miriam threatened the Hawaiian Islands as a tropical storm, but veered south. Miriam had no effect on the islands. The storm dissipated September 2.

Hurricane Norman

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Track=Norman 1978 track.pngFormed=August 30
Dissipated=September 6
1-min winds=120Norman was powerful Category 4 hurricane. It had no effect on land as a hurricane, but after weakening to a tropical storm, Norman recurved and headed straight for southern California. Norman made landfall as a depression and had dissipated by September 7. Heavy rains fell across the Sierra Nevada range in California, with a maximum amount of 7.01 inches reported at Lodgepole. [Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/norman1978.html Hurricane Norman.] Retrieved on 2007-02-28.]

Tropical Depression Seventeen

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac
Formed=September 8
Dissipated=September 9
1-min winds=30Existed between September 8 and September 9.

Hurricane Olivia

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=September 20
Dissipated=September 23
1-min winds=65Hurricane Olivia was a continuation of Atlantic Hurricane Greta. The depression emerged from Central America and quickly restrengthened into Tropical Storm Olivia. The storm erratically changed course and headed straight north as a hurricane. Olivia made landfall near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and dissipated on September 23.

Tropical Storm Paul

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=September 23
Dissipated=September 26
1-min winds=40Paul brushed the southern tip of Baja California and made landfall in western Mexico.

Hurricane Rosa

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac

---

Formed=October 2
Dissipated=October 7
1-min winds=75As a tropical storm, Rosa came close to Baja California Sur but never made landfall.

Hurricane Susan

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac


Formed=October 18
Dissipated=October 24
1-min winds=117The only cyclone to develop in the central Pacific did so on October 18. Susan rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane and one of the three strongest storms then known in the central Pacific. Initially heading on a course that aimed directly at the Big Island, Susan instead turned to the southwest and decayed rapidly due to wind shear.

Tropical Storm Sergio

Infobox Hurricane Small
Basin=EPac


Formed=October 18
Dissipated=October 20
1-min winds=35Sergio dissipated before making landfall on the Pacific coast of Baja California.

1978 Storm Names

These names were used for storms forming in the eastern Pacific Ocean this year. This is the first time these names were used. Names not retired from this list were used in the 1982 season. At this time, lists were intended to be repeated every four years instead of six.

This is the first season to use lists with male and female names on it. It is also the first year of modern naming.

The central Pacific used names and numbers from the western Pacific's typhoon list. One name – Susan – was used.

Retirement

The World Meteorological Organization retired one name in the spring of 1979: Fico. It was replaced with Fabio.

ee also

*List of Pacific hurricanes
*List of Pacific hurricane seasons
*1978 Atlantic hurricane season
*1978 Pacific typhoon season
*1978 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
*Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons: 1977–78, 1978–79

References

External links

* [http://www.weather.unisys.com/hurricane/e_pacific/1978/index.html Unisys Archive]
* [http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/summaries/1978.php CPHC 1978 report]