2021 Pacific hurricane season

Season overview

By count, 2021 was a busy year for named storms but a modest one for strong hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center tallied more named storms than the 1991 to 2020 average of 15, a normal number of hurricanes and fewer major hurricanes than the average of 4. Accumulated cyclone energy, which weighs both strength and duration, ran below the long-term average, consistent with a season in which most systems stayed weak or short-lived. The archive behind this map gives the season an ACE of 97.3.

Forecasters had not expected an exceptional year. In May, NOAA called for a below-normal to near-normal season, citing near- or below-average sea surface temperatures across the eastern Pacific and an El Niño–Southern Oscillation that was expected to stay neutral, with a chance of La Niña developing. Mexico's national weather service issued a somewhat higher range of forecasts.

The map's count of 20 tropical storms differs from the 19 named storms in the National Hurricane Center summary because of how each is defined. The site counts every storm in the archive's eastern Pacific record that reached 34 knots during its tropical stage in calendar year 2021, and that record includes Tropical Storm Omais, a western Pacific storm whose precursor was first noted by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in early August. The official summary counts only storms named east of the date line, and no storm formed in the central Pacific in 2021. The ACE figures differ slightly for similar reasons: the site sums US-agency one-minute winds over its own calendar-year tracks, while the roughly 94 units quoted elsewhere come from Colorado State University's calculation from the Hurricane Center's best track.

Storm activity through the year

The season started before its official 15 May opening. Tropical Storm Andres formed south of Mexico on 9 May, the earliest tropical storm on record in the eastern North Pacific, beating the previous mark set by Adrian in 2017. It stayed weak and dissipated at sea within two days. Tropical Storm Blanca followed at the end of May, and June brought Tropical Storm Carlos, Tropical Storm Dolores and Hurricane Enrique, the season's first hurricane, which reached hurricane strength on 26 June.

Activity peaked from mid-July through August. Hurricane Felicia and Tropical Storm Guillermo spun up within days of each other in mid-July, and at the start of August Hurricane Hilda, Tropical Storm Ignacio and the depression that later became Tropical Storm Jimena were active at the same time. Tropical Storm Kevin, Hurricane Linda, Tropical Storm Marty and Hurricane Nora followed during August. Marty had an unusual origin: it grew from the mid-level remnants of the Atlantic's Hurricane Grace, which had crossed Mexico.

September then went almost silent, producing only Hurricane Olaf. Hurricanes Pamela and Rick formed in October, and the season closed with Tropical Storm Terry and Tropical Storm Sandra in early November. The two November storms existed at the same time, the first time that had happened in an eastern Pacific November on record. The last tropical-stage observation in the archive falls on 10 November.

Strongest storms

Hurricane Felicia was the season's strongest storm. It formed on 14 July about 500 nautical miles southwest of Mexico and intensified rapidly almost from the start, becoming a hurricane within a day and a half. It peaked at 125 knots, Category 4, with a central pressure of 945 hPa around 12:00 UTC on 17 July, roughly 950 nautical miles west-southwest of the tip of the Baja California peninsula. Felicia was remarkably compact: hurricane-force winds reached only about 15 nautical miles from its eye. It weakened quickly over a hostile environment and became a remnant low on 20 July, just short of the central Pacific, without affecting land.

Hurricane Linda was the season's other major hurricane. It formed on 10 August, rapidly intensified over warm water after becoming a hurricane, and peaked at 115 knots, Category 4, on 14 August. Like Felicia, Linda took on annular characteristics, with a wide eye and a symmetric ring of deep convection, and it recovered to a second peak of 95 knots on 18 August before cooler water broke it down. Its post-tropical remnant kept gale-force winds as it crossed the central Pacific and passed over the main Hawaiian Islands on 23 August, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds. The Hurricane Center reported no casualties or damage from Linda.

No other storm reached major hurricane strength. Hurricane Olaf and Hurricane Rick each peaked at 90 knots, Category 2, and both reached that strength at landfall. Hurricane Enrique peaked at 80 knots, while Hilda, Nora and Pamela topped out at Category 1.

Landfalls and impacts in Mexico

Five systems made landfall in Mexico, the most since 2018. The first was Tropical Storm Dolores, which came ashore near the Michoacán and Colima border on 19 June at 60 knots, its peak, while developing an eyewall. Heavy rain flooded parts of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco, and more than 50,000 customers lost power. The Hurricane Center counted three direct deaths, all apparently from lightning, and cited an Aon estimate of more than US$50 million in economic losses in Mexico (2021 dollars).

A week later, Hurricane Enrique stayed just offshore as it moved up the southwestern coast, but its rain, wind and surf still did damage. Two people died in high surf and rip currents in Guerrero, counted as direct deaths, and hundreds of homes were damaged by landslides, flooding and wind across Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit. More than 115,000 customers lost power in Jalisco.

Hurricane Nora made landfall near Chola, Jalisco, at 75 knots on 28 August, then skirted the coast northward while weakening. Its rain caused the worst impacts of the season: flash and river flooding damaged at least 500 houses in Jalisco and partly collapsed a hotel in Puerto Vallarta. The Hurricane Center attributed three direct deaths to Nora, in Chiapas and Jalisco, noted that several people remained missing, and cited an Aon estimate of at least US$125 million in economic losses in Mexico (2021 dollars).

Hurricane Olaf struck the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula near San José del Cabo at its 90-knot peak on 10 September. Rainfall reached 9.27 inches at El Triunfo, and more than 190,000 customers lost power. One direct death occurred in a mudslide in Jalisco, and a media estimate put damage at about US$10 million (200 million pesos), mainly in La Paz and Los Cabos.

In October, Hurricane Pamela made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane just north of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, on 13 October, causing widespread flooding and moderate wind damage in Sinaloa, western Durango and northern Nayarit. The Hurricane Center reported no direct deaths in Mexico, but Pamela's remnants flooded parts of central Texas, where two people died when their vehicles fell from a flooded bridge into Martinez Creek near San Antonio. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Rick came ashore just east of Lázaro Cárdenas at 90 knots on 25 October. Its rains peaked at 11.06 inches in Guerrero, and a man was swept away by flash flooding far inland in Tepoztlán, Morelos, the one direct death. Aon put Rick's economic losses in Mexico in the tens of millions of US dollars without a more exact figure.

Names and records

The season used the same list of names as 2015, except that Pamela replaced the retired Patricia, so 2021 was the first time the name Pamela was used. No names were retired afterwards, so the list returns in 2027. Beyond Andres's early start, the season's other distinctive marks were the pair of simultaneous November storms and a quiet central Pacific: for the second year in a row, no tropical cyclone formed in the central Pacific.