hurricanesmapped

EASTERN PACIFIC · SEASON MAP

1979 Pacific hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 13 storms · 31 May 1979–18 Nov 1979

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY57.4
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1979 Pacific hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 13 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESMEXICOCUBACHINAJAPANPHILIPPINESINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanPhilippine SeaArabian SeaBay of BengalAndres: 31 May–4 Jun, peak 85 kt, Category 2Unnamed: 31 May–31 May, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionBlanca: 21 Jun–25 Jun, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormCarlos: 14 Jul–16 Jul, peak 45 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 16 Jul–16 Jul, peak 29 kt, Tropical depressionDolores: 17 Jul–23 Jul, peak 105 kt, Category 3Enrique: 17 Aug–24 Aug, peak 125 kt, Category 4Fefa: 21 Aug–25 Aug, peak 100 kt, Category 3Unnamed: 4 Sep–4 Sep, peak 25 kt, Tropical depressionGuillermo: 8 Sep–13 Sep, peak 65 kt, Category 1Hilda: 4 Oct–6 Oct, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormIgnacio: 23 Oct–30 Oct, peak 125 kt, Category 4Jimena: 15 Nov–18 Nov, peak 55 kt, Tropical storm

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Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 1979 Pacific hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Andres–85Cat 2—740
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—40
Blanca–45Tropical storm—1,350
Carlos–45Tropical storm—560
Unnamed–29Tropical depression—140
Dolores–105Cat 3—1,810
Enrique–125Cat 4—1,470
Fefa–100Cat 3—1,280
Unnamed–25Tropical depression—170
Guillermo–65Cat 1—670
Hilda–40Tropical storm—830
Ignacio–125Cat 49381,280
Jimena–55Tropical storm—730

13 storms with an IBTrACS 1979 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 31 May 1979, last 18 Nov 1979.

Tropical storms10

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes6

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)4

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 50

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormEnrique

125 kt · 144 mph / 232 km/h

Lowest pressure938 hPa

Ignacio, 27 Oct 1979

Longest track record7 days

Enrique, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 1979 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 1979 Pacific hurricane season?

The archive records 6 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 10 tropical storms, with 4 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 1979 Pacific hurricane season?

Enrique, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 125 kt (Category 4) on 22 Aug 1979, 12:00 UTC.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 1979?

None. No storm in the 1979 Pacific hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale in the archive.

When did the 1979 Pacific hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 31 May 1979 and the last on 18 Nov 1979, from 13 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 1979 Pacific hurricane season?

Andres, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 3 Jun 1979, 18:00 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 1979 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 · Field documentation

Sources & methodology