The 1971 season

Hurricane Francene:Francesca (1971)

Hurricane Francene:Francesca reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between July 18, 1971 and July 23, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 991 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Francene:Francesca, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1971 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
July 18, 1971 to July 23, 1971
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
991 mb (29.26 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 817 km (508 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.5
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
EP061971

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
Jul 18, 00:0011.3N 105.7W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 18, 06:0011.4N 106.5W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 18, 12:0011.6N 107.2W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 18, 18:0012.1N 108.3W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 19, 00:0012.7N 109.3W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 06:0013.4N 110.8W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 12:0014.1N 112.2W75 ktHurricane
Jul 19, 18:0014.9N 113.3W100 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 00:0015.7N 114.5W100 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 06:0016.1N 115.4W100 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 12:0016.6N 116.4W100 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 18:0016.8N 116.7W60 kt991 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:0016.9N 117.0W60 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 06:0016.8N 118.7W60 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 12:0016.7N 120.3W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:0016.6N 121.1W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 00:0016.6N 122.0W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 22, 06:0016.6N 123.2W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 22, 12:0016.5N 124.4W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 22, 18:0016.4N 125.9W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 00:0016.1N 127.3W45 ktTropical storm
Jul 23, 06:0015.8N 128.2W45 ktTropical storm
Jul 23, 12:0015.3N 129.0W35 ktTropical storm

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1971

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.