The 1972 season

Hurricane Hyacinth (1972)

Hurricane Hyacinth reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between August 28, 1972 and September 7, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 962 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Hyacinth, 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 28, 1972 to September 7, 1972
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
962 mb (28.41 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.5
Fastest the center moved
24 kt (28 mph)
Identifier
EP081972

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.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 810 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 1.98 inches (50 mm).

StationTotalPosition
FT JONES RS1.98 in (50 mm)41.60N 122.85W
GEM LAKE1.88 in (48 mm)37.75N 119.13W
ELLERY LAKE1.72 in (44 mm)37.93N 119.23W
YOSEMITE PARK HQ1.68 in (43 mm)37.75N 119.58W
WHITE MTN 21.60 in (41 mm)37.58N 118.23W
KLONDYKE 3 SE1.53 in (39 mm)32.80N 110.30W
MTN DELL DAM1.52 in (39 mm)40.75N 111.72W
LODGEPOLE1.46 in (37 mm)36.60N 118.73W
PINE VIEW DAM1.42 in (36 mm)41.25N 111.83W
BISHOP CREEK INTAKE 21.40 in (36 mm)37.25N 118.58W
CHIRICAHUA NM1.35 in (34 mm)32.00N 109.35W
CITY CREEK WTP1.34 in (34 mm)40.83N 111.83W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 28, 00:0010.9N 94.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 06:0010.7N 94.9W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 12:0010.5N 95.8W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 18:0010.4N 96.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 00:0010.4N 97.5W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 06:0010.5N 98.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 12:0010.9N 99.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 18:0011.7N 101.2W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0012.6N 103.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0013.1N 104.0W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0013.6N 104.9W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0014.0N 105.9W80 kt984 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 00:0014.4N 106.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 06:0014.9N 108.1W80 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0015.3N 109.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0015.5N 110.8W110 kt972 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0015.8N 112.2W110 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0016.2N 113.6W110 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0016.7N 114.9W110 ktHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0017.1N 116.0W100 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0017.5N 117.1W95 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 06:0017.9N 118.2W95 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 12:0018.2N 119.2W95 ktHurricane
Sep 2, 18:0018.6N 120.0W85 kt962 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 00:0019.1N 120.7W65 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 06:0019.6N 121.7W65 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 12:0020.3N 122.6W65 ktHurricane
Sep 3, 18:0021.1N 123.4W70 ktHurricane
Sep 4, 00:0022.0N 124.0W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0023.0N 124.5W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0024.2N 124.9W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0026.4N 125.0W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0028.7N 124.5W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0029.9N 123.4W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0030.7N 122.1W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0031.3N 120.8W40 kt1009 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0031.9N 119.5W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 6, 06:0032.4N 118.4W30 ktExtratropical
Sep 6, 12:0033.0N 117.5W25 ktExtratropical
Sep 6, 18:0033.5N 116.7W25 ktExtratropical
Sep 7, 00:0034.1N 116.0W25 ktExtratropical

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.