Hurricane Gretchen (1974)
Hurricane Gretchen reached Category 2 in the Eastern Pacific between July 17, 1974 and July 21, 1974.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Gretchen, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1974 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- July 17, 1974 to July 21, 1974
- Peak strength
- Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 235 km (146 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 2.4
- Fastest the center moved
- 21 kt (24 mph)
- Identifier
- EP071974
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 00:00 | 14.3N 115.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 17, 06:00 | 14.9N 114.8W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 17, 12:00 | 15.6N 114.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 17, 18:00 | 16.3N 113.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 18, 00:00 | 17.0N 112.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 18, 06:00 | 17.8N 112.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 18, 12:00 | 18.6N 111.4W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 18, 18:00 | 20.7N 111.2W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jul 19, 00:00 | 22.3N 112.6W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Jul 19, 06:00 | 22.8N 114.6W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Jul 19, 12:00 | 23.0N 116.7W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Jul 19, 18:00 | 23.0N 118.0W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jul 20, 00:00 | 23.0N 119.0W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jul 20, 06:00 | 23.9N 119.5W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jul 20, 12:00 | 25.0N 120.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 20, 18:00 | 25.2N 121.0W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Jul 21, 00:00 | 25.0N 122.0W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1974
- Tropical Storm AlettaEastern Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm BlancaEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane ConnieEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane DoloresEastern Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm EileenEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane FrancescaEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm HelgaEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane IoneEastern Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm OliveEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane JoyceEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane KirstenEastern Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm LorraineEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane MaggieEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane NormaEastern Pacific · 1974
- Hurricane PatriciaEastern Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm RosalieEastern Pacific · 1974
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.