The 1959 season

Unnamed hurricane (1959)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between October 22, 1959 and October 29, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 958 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1959 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
October 22, 1959 to October 29, 1959
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
958 mb (28.29 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.1
Fastest the center moved
10 kt (12 mph)
Identifier
EP121959

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Oct 27, 12:00Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico, 6 km away19.1N 104.4W120 kt (138 mph)958 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 22, 12:0012.2N 95.1W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0012.4N 95.7W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0012.6N 96.5W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0012.8N 97.3W55 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0013.1N 98.2W60 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0013.5N 99.2W70 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 00:0014.0N 100.0W75 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 06:0014.5N 100.8W75 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 12:0015.0N 101.6W75 ktHurricane
Oct 24, 18:0015.5N 102.2W80 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 00:0016.0N 102.7W90 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 06:0016.4N 103.3W95 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 12:0016.7N 103.9W100 ktHurricane
Oct 25, 18:0017.0N 104.5W105 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 00:0017.2N 105.1W110 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 06:0017.5N 105.4W115 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 12:0017.8N 105.5W115 ktHurricane
Oct 26, 18:0018.1N 105.4W115 ktHurricane
Oct 27, 00:0018.4N 105.1W120 ktHurricane
Oct 27, 06:0018.8N 104.7W120 ktHurricane
Oct 27, 12:00 landfall19.1N 104.4W120 kt958 mbHurricane
Oct 27, 18:0019.5N 103.9W70 ktHurricane
Oct 28, 00:0020.1N 103.5W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:0020.8N 103.3W25 ktTropical depression
Oct 28, 12:0021.6N 102.9W25 ktNot reported
Oct 28, 18:0022.2N 102.6W25 ktNot reported
Oct 29, 00:0022.8N 102.3W25 ktNot reported
Oct 29, 06:0023.4N 102.1W25 ktNot reported
Oct 29, 12:0024.0N 102.0W25 ktNot reported

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1959

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.