The 1978 season

Hurricane Fico (1978)

Hurricane Fico reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between July 9, 1978 and July 30, 1978.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Fico, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1978 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
July 9, 1978 to July 30, 1978
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 311 km (193 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
63.4
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
EP061978

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
Jul 9, 00:0010.8N 105.9W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 9, 06:0010.9N 106.9W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 9, 12:0011.2N 107.9W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 9, 18:0011.5N 108.8W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 10, 00:0012.1N 109.5W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 06:0012.5N 110.2W45 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 12:0013.0N 110.8W55 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 18:0013.6N 111.4W65 ktHurricane
Jul 11, 00:0014.2N 112.1W75 ktHurricane
Jul 11, 06:0014.4N 112.9W80 ktHurricane
Jul 11, 12:0014.7N 113.3W100 ktHurricane
Jul 11, 18:0014.7N 113.7W115 ktHurricane
Jul 12, 00:0014.8N 114.2W115 ktHurricane
Jul 12, 06:0014.9N 114.6W115 ktHurricane
Jul 12, 12:0015.0N 115.0W120 ktHurricane
Jul 12, 18:0014.9N 115.6W120 ktHurricane
Jul 13, 00:0014.9N 116.0W115 ktHurricane
Jul 13, 06:0015.0N 116.7W105 ktHurricane
Jul 13, 12:0015.1N 117.3W105 ktHurricane
Jul 13, 18:0015.1N 118.4W105 ktHurricane
Jul 14, 00:0015.2N 119.4W95 ktHurricane
Jul 14, 06:0015.2N 120.4W80 ktHurricane
Jul 14, 12:0015.2N 121.5W105 ktHurricane
Jul 14, 18:0015.0N 122.7W110 ktHurricane
Jul 15, 00:0015.3N 124.0W115 ktHurricane
Jul 15, 06:0015.5N 125.4W115 ktHurricane
Jul 15, 12:0015.5N 126.8W115 ktHurricane
Jul 15, 18:0015.7N 128.2W105 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 00:0016.3N 129.7W110 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 06:0016.3N 131.2W110 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 12:0016.0N 132.8W115 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 18:0016.1N 134.3W115 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 00:0016.5N 135.8W115 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 06:0016.6N 137.4W105 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 12:0016.1N 138.9W90 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 18:0016.1N 140.5W80 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 00:0016.3N 142.2W80 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 06:0016.1N 143.4W80 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 12:0016.1N 144.7W80 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 18:0016.0N 146.1W80 ktHurricane
Jul 19, 00:0016.1N 147.3W85 ktHurricane
Jul 19, 06:0016.0N 148.8W90 ktHurricane
Jul 19, 12:0016.0N 149.9W90 ktHurricane
Jul 19, 18:0016.0N 151.0W90 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 00:0016.0N 152.4W90 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 06:0016.0N 153.4W95 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 12:0016.0N 154.5W95 ktHurricane
Jul 20, 18:0016.0N 155.5W100 ktHurricane
Jul 21, 00:0016.2N 156.6W100 ktHurricane
Jul 21, 06:0016.6N 157.7W100 ktHurricane
Jul 21, 12:0017.0N 158.5W100 ktHurricane
Jul 21, 18:0017.5N 159.3W100 ktHurricane
Jul 22, 00:0018.1N 160.0W100 ktHurricane
Jul 22, 06:0018.7N 160.8W95 ktHurricane
Jul 22, 12:0019.2N 161.5W95 ktHurricane
Jul 22, 18:0019.8N 162.2W95 ktHurricane
Jul 23, 00:0020.2N 162.9W95 ktHurricane
Jul 23, 06:0020.8N 163.8W95 ktHurricane
Jul 23, 12:0021.3N 164.6W95 ktHurricane
Jul 23, 18:0021.7N 165.5W90 ktHurricane
Jul 24, 00:0021.9N 166.5W85 ktHurricane
Jul 24, 06:0022.2N 167.5W80 ktHurricane
Jul 24, 12:0022.5N 168.5W80 ktHurricane
Jul 24, 18:0022.8N 169.2W85 ktHurricane
Jul 25, 00:0023.1N 170.2W85 ktHurricane
Jul 25, 06:0023.4N 170.9W75 ktHurricane
Jul 25, 12:0023.7N 171.6W75 ktHurricane
Jul 25, 18:0023.8N 172.3W75 ktHurricane
Jul 26, 00:0024.0N 173.0W75 ktHurricane
Jul 26, 06:0024.3N 173.7W70 ktHurricane
Jul 26, 12:0024.7N 174.3W70 ktHurricane
Jul 26, 18:0025.0N 175.0W70 ktHurricane
Jul 27, 00:0025.5N 175.5W70 ktHurricane
Jul 27, 06:0026.2N 176.2W70 ktHurricane
Jul 27, 12:0027.0N 176.5W70 ktHurricane
Jul 27, 18:0028.0N 176.4W70 ktHurricane
Jul 28, 00:0028.6N 177.0W45 ktTropical storm
Jul 28, 06:0030.0N 177.0W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 28, 12:0031.2N 176.3W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 28, 18:0031.9N 177.5W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 29, 00:0032.7N 178.0W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 29, 06:0033.5N 178.2W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 29, 12:0034.6N 177.8W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 29, 18:0036.0N 177.3W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 30, 00:0037.4N 176.1W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 30, 06:0038.9N 175.0W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 30, 12:0040.3N 173.5W30 ktTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1978

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.