Hurricane Estelle (1972)

Basin

Eastern Pacific

Dates

August 15, 1972 to August 22, 1972

Peak strength

Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)

Landfall

No; closest approach 1177 km (731 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

7.3

Fastest the center moved

18 kt (21 mph)

Identifier

EP051972

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.

• Hurricane AnnetteEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 175 kt · 993 mb
• Tropical Storm BonnyEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Storm45 kt · 996 mb
• Hurricane CelesteEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 4115 kt · 940 mb
• Hurricane DianaEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 295 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane FernandaEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 3100 kt · 948 mb
• Hurricane GwenEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 3110 kt · 941 mb
• Hurricane HyacinthEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 3110 kt · 962 mb
• Tropical Storm IvaEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Storm45 kt · 999 mb
• Tropical Storm JuneEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Storm50 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Depression25 kt
• Hurricane JoanneEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 285 kt · 971 mb
• Tropical Storm KathleenEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Storm40 kt
• Tropical Depression OlgaEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Depression30 kt
• Hurricane RubyEastern Pacific · 1972Cat 3110 kt · 940 mb
• Tropical Storm LizaEastern Pacific · 1972Tropical Storm45 kt

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.

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.