1983 Pacific hurricane season

A decaying El Niño and a 201-day season

The current best track counts 21 named storms, 12 hurricanes and 8 major hurricanes, above long-term averages of 15 storms and 8 hurricanes. The site's archive adds one of each because it includes Hurricane Ellen, a system carrying a western Pacific designation that peaked at 125 kt with a pressure of 925 hPa, the lowest recorded among the storms the site assigns to this season. Eastern Pacific best-track tallies leave Ellen out.

The 1982 to 1983 El Niño was decaying but still moderate, with equatorial central Pacific waters running warm, and the Pacific decadal oscillation sat in its warm phase. Both favored the high activity. The season lasted 201 days and 1,238 storm hours, the longest season on record at the time. July brought six storms, twice the average, and September five. Only two depressions formed in the central Pacific, and neither became a named storm.

Hurricane Adolph formed on 21 May at 7.1°N, the southernmost formation on record in the eastern Pacific, and became the earliest hurricane in the basin at the time. It peaked at 95 kt, then weakened to a tropical storm before coming ashore near Puerto Vallarta and again near Mazatlán on 26 May without deaths or major damage.

Major hurricanes off Mexico

Nine storms reached major hurricane strength in the archive. Barbara hit 115 kt on 13 June north of Clipperton Island, and Henriette matched that on 31 July. Kiko deepened explosively from a tropical storm to a major hurricane on 1 September and peaked at 125 kt on 3 September about 400 miles west of Lázaro Cárdenas. Raymond reached the same 125 kt on 11 October about 800 miles south of San Diego and stayed near that strength for almost two days. Lorena, Manuel, Priscilla and Tico completed the list.

Kiko's outer bands damaged coastal homes and hotels in Colima, hitting Tecomán and Manzanillo hardest, and its swell forced more than 100 lifeguard rescues at Newport Beach. Lorena, which formed just south of Acapulco a week later, brought flooding that killed seven people in Mexico.

Remnant floods from California to Arizona

Hurricane Ismael peaked at 85 kt in the archive on 11 August and weakened well offshore, but its remnants flooded southern California. Roads washed out across Yucca Valley, about 50,000 people in Palm Springs were cut off, and 80,000 homes lost power across the Inland Empire. Three people died in San Bernardino when their car was swept into a channel, and damage reached $19 million in 1983 dollars. Manuel and Priscilla later sent rain into California and Arizona with lighter impact.

Tropical Storm Octave never reached land as a tropical cyclone and peaked at 45 kt. Its moisture still produced the worst tropical flooding on record in Arizona in early October. Up to 12 inches fell on Mount Graham, and the Santa Cruz, Rillito and Gila rivers crested at record levels. More than 700 homes were destroyed in Clifton. The floods destroyed 853 structures across Arizona, displaced about 10,000 people and drowned 14, with damage of $500 million in Arizona and $12.5 million in New Mexico, in 1983 dollars.

Hurricane Tico at Mazatlán

Tico formed about 575 miles south of Acapulco on 11 October, turned north and became a major hurricane by 16 October. It peaked at 115 kt early on 19 October and weakened slightly before landfall near Mazatlán at about 1500 UTC that day, with winds of about 125 mph in the current best track. The remnants merged with a cold front and were last seen over Ohio on 24 October.

Tico killed 135 people in Mexico, including nine fishermen lost with small boats, 25,000 people left homeless and damage of about $200 million in 1983 dollars. Its rain then flooded the lower Washita River in Oklahoma. Its remnants killed six people in Oklahoma and Texas and one in Kansas.

Close calls for Hawaii and a December hurricane

Three storms tested Hawaii. Gil crossed the islands as a weak tropical storm in early August; winds reached 70 mph on northern Kauai, and one person on a missing catamaran was presumed dead. Narda prompted a hurricane watch for the whole state in late September before turning away 150 miles south of South Point. Raymond weakened to a depression and came ashore on Molokai on 20 October after 10 to 15 foot surf pounded the east end of the chain. A sailor died when he went overboard from a yacht caught in the storm.

Hurricane Winnie formed south-southwest of Acapulco on 4 December and peaked at 80 kt on 6 December. It is the only known December tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific proper since 1949 and the latest hurricane on record in the basin. It stalled offshore, dropped up to 3.6 inches of rain at Caleta de Campos and dissipated on 7 December. Every name on the 1983 list was used, and none was retired.