1993 Pacific hurricane season

El Niño and twice the usual major hurricanes

The current best track counts 15 named storms, 11 hurricanes and 9 major hurricanes for 1993, against long-term averages of 8 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes. It attributes the season's strength to an El Niño event. The site archive agrees on hurricanes and major hurricanes and counts 16 tropical storms, because it includes Tropical Storm Hattie, which formed in the central Pacific in October and carried a western Pacific designation.

Most storms formed from tropical waves between 10 degrees north and the Mexican coast and moved away from land to die over cool water near 25 degrees north. A persistent upper-level trough over the western United States broke that pattern several times, curving storms back toward Mexico.

Beatriz and Calvin on the Mexican coast

Hurricane Adrian formed on 11 June and drifted over open water, peaking at 75 kt. Tropical Storm Beatriz formed south of Huatulco a week later, peaked at 55 kt on 19 June and came ashore near Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, soon after. Salina Cruz recorded 15.46 inches of rain, and flooding and falling trees killed six people in Morelos and Veracruz.

Hurricane Calvin peaked at 95 kt and 966 hPa on 7 July just off the coast, then weakened slightly before moving onshore about 45 miles west-northwest of Manzanillo, Colima, only the second July hurricane landfall on record there at the time. It emerged offshore as a depression and made a final landfall just south of La Paz. Manzanillo recorded a gust of 84 mph, and Las Pilas measured 16.34 inches of rain.

Mexico's Defense Department reported 42,063 people evacuated across 11 states, and at least 1,600 were left homeless. Calvin caused 37 deaths, most from heavy rain, and $32 million in damage in 1993 US dollars. Rough seas near Lázaro Cárdenas also spilled all 4,000 tonnes of sulfuric acid from the beached tanker Betula.

Dora, Eugene, Keoni and Fernanda in the central Pacific

Hurricane Dora intensified from 80 mph to 130 mph in 24 hours and peaked at 115 kt on 16 July. Its remnants met a cold-core low near Hawaii and set off thunderstorms that eased drought on the islands. Hurricane Eugene peaked at 110 kt on 19 July, entered the central Pacific and crossed the southern side of the Big Island as a depression on 24 July. Its rain helped more than it harmed, but a 45-year-old fisherman may have drowned when rough seas smashed his boat.

Hurricane Keoni formed in the central Pacific on 9 August and peaked at 115 kt and 940 hPa on 16 August. About 1,000 people evacuated Johnston Atoll ahead of it, but the small hurricane passed about 150 miles south and brought only 45 mph gusts. Keoni crossed the Date Line on 19 August and looped along the edge of Typhoon Vernon; its tropical stage ended on 3 September, the longest record of the season in the archive.

Hurricane Fernanda reached 125 kt and 934 hPa on 12 August, then turned northwest toward Hawaii. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for Hawaii on 15 August and a warning for the Big Island the next day; about 200 people used nine shelters. Fernanda passed 305 miles east-northeast of the Big Island, but waves of 10 to 15 feet, up to 20 feet on Maui, damaged 12 homes in Puna and pushed one Maui home off its foundation. Damage came to $5 million in 1993 US dollars.

Five major hurricanes in August

Hurricane Greg grew from the remains of Atlantic Tropical Storm Bret, which had crossed Nicaragua, and peaked at 115 kt on 19 August. Hurricane Hilary reached 105 kt on 21 August, looped in a Fujiwhara interaction with Tropical Storm Irwin and absorbed it, then struck Baja California Sur twice as a strong tropical storm on 25 August. Hilary's moisture caused flash floods in California and Arizona, and its remains joined a cold front to drop about 10 inches of rain on parts of Iowa, where hundreds of people evacuated.

Hurricane Jova became a major hurricane on 31 August, the fifth of the month, and peaked at 115 kt on 1 September. It stayed well offshore, but its outer bands flooded homes in Durango City, where 1,500 people evacuated from 20 neighborhoods.

Kenneth and Lidia on 11 September

Hurricane Kenneth and Hurricane Lidia both peaked at 06:00 UTC on 11 September with winds of 130 kt. Kenneth, the site's strongest storm, recorded 932 hPa far out to sea with a small eye inside a cold central dense overcast. Lidia intensified from 80 mph to 150 mph in 24 hours and bottomed out at 930 hPa, the lowest pressure of the season.

Lidia then recurved northeast ahead of a trough and came ashore south-southwest of Culiacán, Sinaloa, around 08:00 UTC on 13 September with winds of about 100 mph. La Cruz recorded 8.17 inches of rain and lost 100 houses; hundreds of shanty houses collapsed around Mazatlán, and about 1,200 cattle died in Sinaloa. At least 10,000 people were displaced. Lidia caused six deaths and one indirect death, with damage of $8 million in 1993 US dollars. The remnants merged with a cold front over central Texas on 14 September.

The season faded after that. Tropical Storm Max and Tropical Storm Norma formed side by side in early October, and Norma absorbed Max on 4 October. Tropical Storm Hattie closed the archive's year. It formed in the central Pacific in mid-October and peaked at 50 kt and 980 hPa on 23 October, with its tropical stage ending on 25 October.