The 1970 season

Hurricane Lorraine (1970)

Hurricane Lorraine reached Category 2 in the Eastern Pacific between August 16, 1970 and August 27, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 963 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Lorraine, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
August 16, 1970 to August 27, 1970
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
963 mb (28.44 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 485 km (301 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.8
Fastest the center moved
14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier
EP121970

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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 16, 00:0011.2N 97.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 06:0011.3N 98.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 12:0011.5N 99.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 16, 18:0011.8N 100.7W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 00:0012.2N 101.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 06:0012.7N 102.7W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 12:0013.2N 103.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 17, 18:0013.9N 104.6W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0014.5N 105.7W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0015.1N 107.0W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 12:0015.4N 108.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0015.5N 109.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0015.4N 110.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0015.0N 111.1W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0014.7N 111.9W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0014.5N 112.7W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0014.3N 113.6W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0014.2N 114.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0014.1N 115.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0014.0N 116.5W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 00:0014.1N 117.5W65 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 06:0014.4N 118.5W65 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 12:0014.8N 119.4W65 ktHurricane
Aug 21, 18:0015.2N 120.2W65 kt978 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 00:0015.7N 120.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 06:0016.3N 122.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 12:0016.7N 123.2W70 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 18:0016.9N 124.3W85 kt963 mbHurricane
Aug 23, 00:0016.9N 125.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 06:0016.9N 126.5W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 12:0016.9N 127.6W80 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 18:0016.9N 128.7W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0016.9N 129.9W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0017.1N 131.0W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0017.6N 132.0W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0018.0N 132.8W50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0018.4N 133.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0018.6N 134.5W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0018.8N 135.4W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0019.1N 136.2W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0019.3N 137.1W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0019.6N 138.1W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0019.8N 139.1W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0020.0N 140.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 00:0020.0N 141.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 06:0020.0N 142.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 27, 12:0020.0N 143.1W25 ktTropical 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.