The 1972 season

Hurricane Diana (1972)

Hurricane Diana reached Category 2 in the Eastern Pacific between August 11, 1972 and August 20, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 1005 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Diana, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1972 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 11, 1972 to August 20, 1972
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
1005 mb (29.68 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 49 km (30 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.1
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
EP041972

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 11, 00:0010.4N 115.6W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0010.8N 116.6W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0011.1N 117.7W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0011.4N 119.0W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0011.8N 120.4W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0012.2N 121.8W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0012.6N 123.2W65 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 18:0013.1N 124.2W75 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0013.6N 125.1W75 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 06:0013.8N 125.6W75 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 12:0014.0N 126.2W80 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 18:0015.0N 127.5W80 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 00:0016.1N 128.8W95 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 06:0016.7N 129.5W95 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 12:0017.2N 130.2W95 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 18:0017.7N 131.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 00:0018.1N 131.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 06:0018.5N 132.8W75 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 12:0018.7N 133.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 18:0018.8N 135.4W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 00:0018.7N 137.1W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 06:0018.6N 138.4W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 12:0018.5N 139.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 18:0018.4N 141.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 00:0018.4N 143.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0018.5N 145.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0018.5N 147.1W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0018.4N 148.1W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0018.3N 149.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0018.1N 150.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 12:0018.2N 151.9W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0018.7N 152.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0019.4N 153.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0019.8N 153.6W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0020.2N 154.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0020.5N 154.6W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0020.7N 154.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0020.7N 155.0W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0021.0N 155.5W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0021.3N 156.1W25 kt1005 mbTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1972

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.