The 1970 season

Tropical Storm Selma (1970)

Tropical Storm Selma peaked at 60 kt in the Eastern Pacific between November 1, 1970 and November 8, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 995 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Selma, 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
November 1, 1970 to November 8, 1970
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
995 mb (29.38 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 65 km (40 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.6
Fastest the center moved
10 kt (12 mph)
Identifier
EP181970

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
Nov 1, 12:0014.5N 107.7W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 1, 18:0014.5N 108.3W30 ktTropical depression
Nov 2, 00:0014.6N 108.9W30 ktTropical depression
Nov 2, 06:0014.7N 109.6W30 ktTropical depression
Nov 2, 12:0014.8N 110.3W30 ktTropical depression
Nov 2, 18:0015.1N 111.0W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:0015.7N 111.6W40 ktTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0016.7N 111.7W40 ktTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0017.6N 111.4W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0018.1N 111.0W60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0018.5N 110.6W60 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0019.0N 110.0W60 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0019.5N 109.4W60 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0020.0N 108.9W50 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0020.5N 108.8W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0020.8N 109.2W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0020.8N 109.8W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0020.7N 110.4W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0020.7N 110.9W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0021.1N 111.4W40 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0021.6N 111.8W35 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0021.9N 112.0W30 ktTropical depression
Nov 7, 00:0022.2N 112.1W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 7, 06:0022.5N 112.0W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 7, 12:0022.7N 111.9W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 7, 18:0022.9N 111.7W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 8, 00:0023.1N 111.4W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 8, 06:0023.0N 111.0W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 8, 12:0022.7N 110.6W25 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.