The 1972 season

Hurricane Ruby (1972)

Hurricane Ruby reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between November 11, 1972 and November 21, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Ruby, 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
November 11, 1972 to November 21, 1972
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 2017 km (1253 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.7
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
CP021972

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
Nov 11, 00:005.0N 175.0W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 11, 06:005.7N 175.6W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 11, 12:006.2N 176.2W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 11, 18:006.9N 176.7W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 12, 00:007.5N 177.0W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 12, 06:008.0N 177.2W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 12, 12:008.7N 177.3W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 12, 18:009.3N 177.6W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 13, 00:009.7N 177.7W25 ktTropical depression
Nov 13, 06:0010.4N 177.8W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 13, 12:0011.2N 178.0W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 13, 18:0011.8N 178.2W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 14, 00:0012.2N 178.5W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 14, 06:0012.4N 180.0W45 ktTropical storm
Nov 14, 12:0012.3N 178.7E65 kt970 mbHurricane
Nov 14, 18:0012.7N 177.8E75 kt965 mbHurricane
Nov 15, 00:0013.3N 176.2E75 kt960 mbHurricane
Nov 15, 06:0013.7N 175.5E75 kt950 mbHurricane
Nov 15, 12:0014.0N 174.5E75 kt945 mbHurricane
Nov 15, 18:0014.3N 173.2E75 kt940 mbHurricane
Nov 16, 00:0014.5N 172.2E90 kt940 mbHurricane
Nov 16, 06:0014.9N 171.5E100 kt945 mbHurricane
Nov 16, 12:0015.2N 170.7E110 kt944 mbHurricane
Nov 16, 18:0015.5N 169.9E110 kt965 mbHurricane
Nov 17, 00:0015.7N 168.8E110 kt980 mbHurricane
Nov 17, 06:0016.0N 167.6E100 kt992 mbHurricane
Nov 17, 12:0016.3N 165.9E100 kt983 mbHurricane
Nov 17, 18:0016.0N 164.1E90 kt994 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 00:0015.7N 162.6E70 kt998 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 06:0015.4N 161.5E65 kt1000 mbHurricane
Nov 18, 12:0015.4N 160.5E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 18:0015.6N 159.5E55 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 00:0015.8N 158.7E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 06:0016.1N 156.7E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 12:0016.3N 156.0E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 18:0016.5N 155.5E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 00:0017.0N 154.5E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
Nov 20, 06:0017.0N 153.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 12:0017.0N 152.5E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 20, 18:0017.2N 151.7E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 21, 00:0017.4N 151.0E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 21, 06:0017.8N 149.9E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 21, 12:0018.0N 148.8E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 21, 18:0018.2N 147.7E1008 mbTropical storm

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.