The 1972 season

Hurricane Gwen (1972)

Hurricane Gwen reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between August 22, 1972 and August 31, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 941 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Gwen, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
August 22, 1972 to August 31, 1972
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
941 mb (27.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 369 km (229 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.2
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
EP071972

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 22, 00:0010.0N 97.8W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 06:0010.0N 98.9W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 22, 12:0010.2N 100.1W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0010.4N 101.4W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 00:0010.9N 102.6W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 06:0011.4N 103.3W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 12:0012.1N 103.9W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 23, 18:0012.8N 104.8W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0013.6N 105.7W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0014.4N 106.2W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0015.1N 106.6W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0015.8N 106.9W65 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 00:0016.4N 107.2W65 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 06:0016.6N 107.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 12:0016.7N 107.8W75 ktHurricane
Aug 25, 18:0017.0N 108.2W75 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 00:0017.3N 108.6W75 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 06:0017.7N 109.0W75 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 12:0018.0N 109.5W75 ktHurricane
Aug 26, 18:0018.2N 110.0W85 kt941 mbHurricane
Aug 27, 00:0018.3N 110.6W95 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 06:0018.5N 111.2W95 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 12:0018.8N 111.9W110 ktHurricane
Aug 27, 18:0019.1N 112.7W110 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 00:0019.6N 113.3W100 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 06:0020.6N 114.1W100 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 12:0021.8N 115.0W100 ktHurricane
Aug 28, 18:0022.5N 115.6W65 kt962 mbHurricane
Aug 29, 00:0023.3N 116.2W65 ktHurricane
Aug 29, 06:0024.3N 117.0W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0025.4N 117.8W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0026.5N 118.6W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0027.6N 119.4W50 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0028.3N 119.8W50 kt999 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0028.9N 120.2W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0029.2N 120.5W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0029.4N 120.7W30 kt1006 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.