1977 Pacific hurricane season

The quietest season on record

The site and the current best track agree on 8 tropical storms, 4 hurricanes and no major hurricanes. Accumulated cyclone energy came to 22.3, matching Colorado State University's figure, the lowest for the northeastern Pacific on record. The count of tropical storms stood alone as a record low until 2010 matched it, and no season went without a major hurricane again until 2003. 1977 was quiet around the globe, with 69 tropical cyclones worldwide.

Short-lived depressions were common even as storms were scarce. The archive tracks 17 systems between 25 May and 23 October, and nine of them never reached 34 kt. Most lasted a day or two over open water.

One storm a month through August

May, June, July and August each produced one named storm. Tropical Storm Ava reached 55 kt on 28 May, and reconnaissance found an incomplete eye before wind shear and cooler water broke it down. Bernice drew in low clouds from the north and turned extratropical. Hurricane Claudia deepened quickly in early July, peaked at 80 kt on 4 July and weakened over colder water.

Doreen floods Baja California and the desert Southwest

Hurricane Doreen formed on 13 August and reached its 65 kt peak on 14 August, based on reconnaissance data. It drifted ashore near San Carlos on Baja California as a minimal hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm and made a second landfall near Punta Eugenia on 16 August. It had the lowest pressure of the season at 979 mb and was also the longest-tracked storm, at 120 recorded hours.

Rain reached 14.80 inches near Los Cabos, and in Mexicali more than 2,000 people lost their shanty homes. The remnants dropped 7.45 inches in California's San Jacinto Mountains and destroyed about 325 homes and businesses across the desert Southwest. Crop damage in San Diego and Imperial counties reached $25 million, in 1977 dollars. In Bullhead City, Arizona, floods forced more than 50 people from their homes and heavily damaged more than 12 homes and businesses.

Anita's crossing and Heather's Arizona floods

Atlantic Hurricane Anita, which reached Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico and struck northern Mexico on 2 September, survived the mountains and emerged over the Pacific as a depression on 3 September. It crossed the Islas Marías and degenerated the same day off Baja California Sur. Hurricane Florence then became the season's strongest storm, peaking at 90 kt on 22 September after a sharp turn north-northeast, and turned extratropical over cool water two days later.

Hurricane Heather, the last named storm, peaked at 75 kt on 5 October and fell apart over cooler water. Its remnants dropped 8.30 inches of rain in Arizona. The Santa Cruz River near Tucson ran at its highest discharge since at least 1892, at least 16,000 acres of farmland flooded, and about 90 homes were damaged, mostly near Nogales, where 175 families evacuated and mud fouled the city's wells. Damage came to about $14.6 million in 1977 dollars.