The 1972 season

Hurricane Fernanda (1972)

Hurricane Fernanda reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between August 20, 1972 and September 1, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 948 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Fernanda, 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 20, 1972 to September 1, 1972
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
948 mb (27.99 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 318 km (198 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.1
Fastest the center moved
20 kt (23 mph)
Identifier
EP061972

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 20, 00:0010.9N 104.4W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0011.2N 104.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0011.3N 105.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0011.6N 106.5W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0011.9N 107.8W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 06:0012.3N 108.8W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 12:0012.7N 109.7W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 21, 18:0013.0N 110.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 00:0013.2N 110.8W65 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 06:0013.5N 111.7W65 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 12:0013.8N 112.6W70 ktHurricane
Aug 22, 18:0014.7N 114.1W85 kt950 mbHurricane
Aug 23, 00:0015.7N 115.6W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 06:0016.1N 116.9W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 12:0016.6N 118.2W85 ktHurricane
Aug 23, 18:0017.1N 119.4W85 kt948 mbHurricane
Aug 24, 00:0017.5N 120.5W90 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 06:0017.7N 121.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 12:0017.7N 123.3W100 ktHurricane
Aug 24, 18:0017.8N 125.1W90 kt964 mbHurricane
Aug 25, 00:0018.0N 126.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 06:0018.3N 128.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 12:0018.6N 130.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 18:0019.1N 132.8W65 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 00:0019.6N 134.8W65 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 06:0019.8N 136.1W65 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 12:0019.9N 137.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0019.8N 139.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0019.8N 140.4W50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0019.9N 141.9W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0020.1N 143.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0020.5N 144.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0020.8N 146.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0021.0N 147.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0021.2N 148.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0021.4N 148.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0021.5N 149.6W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0021.5N 150.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0021.4N 151.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0021.6N 151.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0021.9N 152.7W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0022.3N 153.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0022.8N 153.8W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0023.2N 154.1W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0023.7N 154.4W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0024.1N 155.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0024.3N 155.3W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0024.5N 156.0W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0025.7N 156.3W25 ktTropical 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.