Hurricane Francesca (1970)

Hurricane Francesca reached Category 2 in the Eastern Pacific between July 1, 1970 and July 10, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 991 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Francesca, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1970 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: July 1, 1970 to July 10, 1970
Peak strength: Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure: 991 mb (29.26 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 222 km (138 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 7.9
Fastest the center moved: 18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier: EP051970

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.

Track

Time (UTC)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Jul 1, 12:00	8.3N 86.9W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 1, 18:00	8.7N 87.7W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 2, 00:00	9.1N 88.4W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 2, 06:00	9.7N 89.1W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 2, 12:00	10.3N 89.7W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 2, 18:00	10.9N 90.6W	45 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 3, 00:00	11.2N 91.6W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 3, 06:00	11.1N 92.9W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 3, 12:00	10.9N 94.1W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 3, 18:00	10.8N 95.4W	85 kt		Hurricane
Jul 4, 00:00	10.8N 96.6W	85 kt		Hurricane
Jul 4, 06:00	11.2N 98.3W	85 kt		Hurricane
Jul 4, 12:00	11.6N 100.0W	85 kt		Hurricane
Jul 4, 18:00	11.9N 101.3W	70 kt	991 mb	Hurricane
Jul 5, 00:00	12.1N 102.6W	70 kt		Hurricane
Jul 5, 06:00	12.3N 103.9W	70 kt		Hurricane
Jul 5, 12:00	12.6N 105.2W	70 kt		Hurricane
Jul 5, 18:00	13.0N 106.8W	65 kt		Hurricane
Jul 6, 00:00	13.4N 108.3W	55 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 6, 06:00	13.7N 109.8W	50 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 6, 12:00	14.0N 111.4W	45 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 6, 18:00	14.3N 112.6W	45 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 7, 00:00	14.6N 113.8W	40 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 7, 06:00	15.0N 114.7W	40 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 7, 12:00	15.3N 115.6W	35 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 7, 18:00	15.5N 116.3W	35 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
Jul 8, 00:00	15.6N 117.1W	35 kt		Tropical storm
Jul 8, 06:00	15.7N 117.8W	30 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 8, 12:00	15.7N 118.6W	30 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 8, 18:00	15.7N 119.2W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 9, 00:00	15.6N 119.8W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 9, 06:00	15.6N 120.6W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 9, 12:00	15.6N 121.3W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 9, 18:00	15.5N 121.9W	25 kt		Tropical depression
Jul 10, 00:00	15.2N 122.4W	25 kt		Tropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1970

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.