Jump to content

1951 Pacific hurricane season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1951 Pacific hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedMay 17, 1951
Last system dissipatedNovember 30, 1951
Strongest storm
NameTwo and Eight
 • Maximum winds85 mph (140 km/h)
Seasonal statistics
Total storms9 (10 unofficially)
Hurricanes2
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)
0
Total fatalities0
Total damageUnknown
Related articles
Pacific hurricane seasons
1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953

The 1951 Pacific hurricane season ran through the summer and fall of 1951. Nine tropical systems were observed during the season.[1]

Systems

[edit]

Tropical Storm One

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationMay 17 – May 21
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

A tropical storm hit near Acapulco early in the season in May.[1]

Hurricane Two

[edit]
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationJune 1 – June 2
Peak intensity85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min);

A hurricane hit near Acapulco early in the season in June.[1]

Tropical Storm Three

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationJune 26 – June 27
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

Three came close to land.[1]

Tropical Storm Four

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationJuly 5 – July 6
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

Tropical Storm Four existed from July 5 to July 6.[1]

Tropical Storm Five

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationAugust 3 – August 10
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

Tropical Storm Five existed from August 3 to August 10.[1]

Tropical Storm Six

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationAugust 24 – August 29
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

On August 24, a tropical storm was first observed south of Mexico. It paralleled the coastline, and moved northward into Baja California on the 28th. It dissipated the next day,[1] and caused moderate flooding in southern California.

Tropical Storm Seven

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationSeptember 11 – September 15
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

Tropical Storm Seven existed from September 11 to September 15.[1]

Hurricane Eight

[edit]
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
 
DurationSeptember 23 – September 28
Peak intensity85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min);

Hurricane Eight existed from September 23 to September 28.[1]

Tropical Storm Nine

[edit]
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationNovember 27 – November 30
Peak intensity50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min);

The final tropical cyclone of the season existed from November 27 to November 30.[1]

Other system

[edit]
Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
Map key
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

A warm-core kona storm[2] transitioned into a tropical cyclone at 0000 UTC on March 21, west of the Necker Island. At that time, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began tracking the storm with winds of 30 mph (50 km/h), or tropical depression strength. The system began traveling eastward, and later to the northeast on March 22. Then, it turned sharply southward towards Hawaii on the same day. The system turned southwest toward the Hawaiian Islands at 0600 UTC of March 25, making its first landfall near Hauula on Oahu at 1200 UTC that day.[3][4] The system weakened below tropical storm intensity as it passed through the island of Oahu.[2] By six hours later, the system left the island and continued southward. Then, the system slowed down and curved back north toward Oahu. The system made a second landfall on Oahu near Mākaha, just past 0000 UTC on March 28.[3][4] Later, the system scrapped the northwestern coast of the island. It re-entered the Pacific six hours later and turned west. The system then sped up and made its last landfall near Kealia, just past 0000 UTC on March 29.[3][4] The storm moved quickly across the island, and it left the island about six hours later. The JTWC stopped tracking the system east of the island of Nihoa eighteen hours later, after it had started to move across the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.[3][4]

The system has been considered a tropical or an extratropical cyclone. The JTWC[3] and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) both consider the storm to be a tropical cyclone.[2] However, the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers for the eastern north Pacific, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) do not include the system in their archives. Due to this, the system was not considered tropical or subtropical officially.[1] On March 25, tropical storm warnings were posted for the Hawaiian Islands. Winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) were reported in Oahu as the storm came near the island. In Honolulu, six inches (15 cm) of rain was reported.[2] The system contributed to the already above-average rainfall in the Hawaiian Islands. The rainfall amount for March 1951 was nearly 200 to 700 percent above normal.[5] The rainfall set records for that month, but they were later broken in 2006.[6]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k National Hurricane Center; Hurricane Research Division; Central Pacific Hurricane Center (April 26, 2024). "The Northeast and North Central Pacific hurricane database 1949–2023". United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. A guide on how to read the database is available here. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ a b c d Simpson, R. H. (February 1952). "Evolution of a Kona Storm, a Subtropical Cyclone". Journal of Meteorology. 9 (1). American Meteorological Society: 34–35. Bibcode:1952JAtS....9...24S. doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1952)009<0024:EOTKSA>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0095-9634.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Tropical system One Best Track". Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d Knapp, Kenneth R.; Kruk, Michael C.; Levinson, David H.; Diamond, Howard J.; Neumann, Charles J. (2010). 1951 MISSING (1951080N23195). The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying tropical cyclone best track data (Report). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  5. ^ Winston, Jay S. (March 1951). "The Weather and Circulation of March 1951" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. 79 (3). American Meteorological Society: 54. Bibcode:1951MWRv...79...50W. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1951)079<0050:TWACOM>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1520-0493. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  6. ^ Tyau-Beam, Carol (June 2006). "Record Rainfall Totals" (PDF). Hawaii Flood Management News (June 2006). Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources – Engineering Division: 3. Retrieved June 8, 2014.