EASTERN PACIFIC SEASON MAP
1952 Pacific hurricane season
7 recorded storms from May 29, 1952 to Oct 15, 1952
Last updated
The 1952 Pacific hurricane season produced 7 tropical storms and 3 hurricanes, none of them major. The first storm formed on 29 May and the last faded on 15 October. All seven stayed at sea, though moisture from a September hurricane reached California. Read more
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7 storms with an IBTrACS 1952 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation May 29, 1952, last Oct 15, 1952.
Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 39 mph or more
74 mph or more, one-minute sustained
110 mph or more, Saffir–Simpson scale
158 mph or more at any tropical-stage observation
86 mph
No tropical-stage pressure in the archive
Unnamed, full archive record
Mapped, but outside the counts above
SEASON HISTORY
Seven storms from May to October
The archive records seven tropical storms, three of which reached hurricane strength, for an accumulated cyclone energy of 34.7. Each hurricane peaks at a flat 75 kt and each tropical storm at 45 kt, which reflects the sparse observations of the early 1950s. The current best track counts the same seven systems.
Tropical storms formed in late May, mid-June and mid-July. The first hurricane followed from 24 to 27 July, a second from 15 to 22 September, and a tropical storm on 26 to 28 September came between it and the final hurricane of 13 to 15 October.
Desert rain from a September hurricane
The September hurricane developed southwest of Baja California on 15 September and dissipated seven days later, the longest-lived storm of the year. Its moisture brought about 2 inches of rain to the deserts and mountains of central and southern California.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
The 1952 season in brief
How many hurricanes were there in the 1952 Pacific hurricane season?
The archive records 3 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 74 mph or more) among 7 tropical storms, with 0 major hurricanes reaching 110 mph. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.
What was the strongest storm of the 1952 Pacific hurricane season?
Unnamed, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 86 mph (Category 1) on Jul 24, 1952, 12:00 AM UTC.
How many Category 5 storms were there in 1952?
None. No storm in the 1952 Pacific hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.
When did the 1952 Pacific hurricane season start and end?
The first tropical-stage observation is on May 29, 1952 and the last on Oct 15, 1952, from 7 tracked storms in the archive.
What was the first hurricane of the 1952 Pacific hurricane season?
Unnamed, which reached hurricane strength (74 mph) on Jul 24, 1952, 12:00 AM UTC.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and totals are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the Eastern Pacific basin for the 1952 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.
Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.
The map frame is the same for every Eastern Pacific season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology