1968 Pacific hurricane season

Record advisories, thin data

The current best track counts 25 tropical cyclones, of which six stayed depressions, thirteen peaked as tropical storms and six became hurricanes. Forecasters issued 501 advisories east of 140°W and 30 in the central Pacific, both records at the time. The site's count of 20 tropical storms and 6 hurricanes includes Tropical Storm Virginia, which formed in the western Pacific and crossed the date line, and it counts only systems that reached 34 kt during the tropical stage.

With few Hurricane Hunter flights, forecasters worked from satellite pictures and ship reports, and later analysts removed most of the season's intensity readings from the best track. Every hurricane in the archive now carries the same 75 kt peak, and almost every tropical storm sits at 45 or 50 kt. Only one pressure survived in the best track: 1008 mb from Hurricane Pauline while it was a depression, which is why the site lists Pauline as the lowest-pressure storm. Accumulated cyclone energy came to 65.8.

Storms from the convergence zone

Tropical Storm Annette opened the season on 20 June, reported by the ship James Lykes, and moved ashore near Manzanillo on 22 June. A tropical depression formed within 70 miles of it at the same time, an unusual pairing for the basin. From July onward, one disturbance after another organized in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the source of all six hurricanes.

July brought Bonny, Celeste, Diana and Estelle, all short of hurricane strength. Bonny passed 50 miles from Socorro Island, which measured 60 mph winds. A shift in the trade winds and the convergence zone cut Estelle's life as a storm to about 30 hours, and forecasters in the central Pacific issued advisories on it although it dissipated just east of 140°W.

Eight storms in August

When the trade winds eased in early August, the basin filled up. The best track counts eight eastern Pacific tropical storms that month, a record for August later tied in 2009. Hurricane Fernanda formed near Acapulco, developed an eye on 8 August and reached its peak that day while it pulled Tropical Storm Gwen, 450 miles to its east, into a Fujiwhara interaction that left Gwen exposed and short-lived.

Tropical Storm Hyacinth grew from a low that broke off a cold front over Texas, passed east of La Paz and came ashore near Los Mochis on 19 August, spreading showers into Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Iva and Hurricane Joanne formed from twin disturbances on 20 August; Joanne peaked on 24 August and sped Iva's move northwest. Tropical Storm Kathleen, the longest-tracked storm at 252 recorded hours, drifted into the central Pacific before dissipating on 3 September.

Virginia formed near 31°N northwest of Midway and crossed the date line at about 35°N on 25 August, then turned extratropical within a day. It then held the record for the northernmost tropical storm formation in the Pacific. Hurricane Liza reached hurricane strength on 29 August and peaked the next day; its best-track peak is 85 mph. Its swells on Labor Day swept 261 swimmers out at Newport Beach and 47 at Zuma Beach, all rescued, and tore three sundecks worth $5,000 in 1968 dollars from their supports near Laguna Beach.

Naomi and Pauline in northwestern Mexico

Hurricane Naomi formed on 9 September, strengthened fast, turned northeast and came ashore in Sinaloa near Punta Piaxtla. Naomi caused four casualties in Sinaloa and $16 million in damage there in 1968 dollars. The storm raised fears for the unfinished Lázaro Cárdenas Dam; with help from Automatic Picture Transmission satellite images, officials kept the dam closed and spared two towns downstream. Naomi's moisture also fed rains along the Gulf Coast, where a roof collapse injured a worker in Texas.

Hurricane Pauline became a hurricane on 30 September and went through an eyewall replacement cycle before striking Baja California Sur near Ciudad Constitución. It lost tropical characteristics before a second landfall near Navojoa. A boat with five people aboard went missing in Magdalena Bay and all five were presumed dead, and a tornado from the remnants injured three people near Glendale, Arizona.

Rebecca, Simone and Tara

Hurricane Rebecca formed in busy shipping lanes in early October and forced ships to detour. A lack of ship reports briefly led forecasters to think it had moved inland, until a passing ship found a hurricane. Ship reports suggested Category 2 or even Category 3 winds, but the best track keeps its peak at 85 mph. Rebecca came within 75 miles of the Mexican coast without landfall.

Tropical Storm Simone formed close to the coast of Guatemala in mid-October, moved inland, re-formed a center offshore and dissipated near Tapachula within about 24 hours, the shortest-lived storm of the year. It had been missing from the best track until a later revision reinserted it. Tropical Storm Tara closed the season, first spotted on satellite southwest of Acapulco on 20 October and weakening to a depression on 27 October.