List of off-season Pacific hurricanes
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There have been 26 recorded tropical and subtropical cyclones in the North-eastern Pacific basin outside the official Pacific hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) monitors the area from North America westward to 140°W, while the Central Pacific Hurricane Center is from 140°W to the International Date Line, north of the equator.[nb 1] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) currently defines the season as starting May 15 in the eastern Pacific and June 1 for the central Pacific and ending on November 30 for both regions in each calendar year.[1] Occasionally, however, storms develop in late November and persist until December.
Few off-season tropical cyclones in the east Pacific have affected land, and none of them have made landfall.[2] Only Hurricane Nina caused both property damage and fatalities. It prompted evacuations in Hawaii and caused $100,000 (1957 USD) in damage in the state.[3] The storm also killed four people and produced 35 ft (10 m) waves.[4] The strongest hurricane between December and May was Hurricane Ekeka in 1992, which reached winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). In 1997, after Tropical Storm Paka crossed the International Date Line, it intensified into a typhoon with winds equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, and caused $580 million (1997 USD) in damage in the Marshall Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.[5] The most recent off-season storm is Tropical Storm Andres in mid-May 2021.
The beginning of HURDAT, the official Pacific hurricane database maintained by the NHC, is 1949. Since then, thirteen storms have occurred[2][6] outside the official bounds of hurricane season in the eastern and central north Pacific, respectively.[1] The first storm officially to occur outside of the current season was Hurricane Nina in 1957.[2] In addition, the CPHC reports nine off-season storms from 1900 to 1952 with another off-season tropical cyclone occurring in 1832.[7][8] There have been documents published in the Monthly Weather Review reporting additional off-season storms within 2,000 mi (3,220 km) of the Mexican coastline, including one in December.[9][10] Of all off-season tropical cyclones, the "Froc Cyclone" lasted longest, spanning 12 days and two calendar years.[7] The year with the most off-season storms was tied between 1904 and 1992, with a total of two tropical cyclones. No Pacific hurricane season had both a pre-season and post-season storm.[2][7]
Systems by month
| Saffir–Simpson scale | ||||||
| TD | TS | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 |
The wind speeds listed are maximum one-minute average sustained winds. The category refers to the intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale; TS stands for tropical storm, and TD for tropical depression.
| Storm | Season | Duration | Peak classification | Maximum sustained winds |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed | 1832 | December 1832 | Unknown | Unknown | [8] |
| "Froc Cyclone" | 1902 | December 23, 1902 – January 2, 1903 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| "Zikawei Cyclone" | 1904 | November 26 – December 4 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| "Hurd Cyclone" | 1904 | December 23–30 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| "Gauthier Cyclone" | 1906 | May 3–10 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| Unnamed | 1922 | February 1922 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| Unnamed | 1925 | December 22–26 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| Unnamed | 1936 | December 4 | Unknown | Unknown | [7] |
| Unnamed | 1938 | January 2–5 | Unknown | Unknown | The Monthly Weather Review was uncertain if the storm was a tropical cyclone[11] |
| Nina | 1957 | November 29 – December 6 | Category 1 hurricane | 85 mph (135 km/h) | Caused $100,000 in damage and four fatalities in Hawaii[12] |
| Carmen | 1980 | April 4–8 | Tropical storm | 50 mph (80 km/h) | [13] |
| Winnie | 1983 | December 4–7 | Category 1 hurricane | 90 mph (145 km/h) | Strongest east Pacific tropical cyclone in the month of December;[2] caused minor rainfall in parts of Mexico.[14] |
| Winona | 1989 | January 9–15 | Tropical storm | 45 mph (70 km/h) | [6] |
| Alma | 1990 | May 12–20 | Category 1 hurricane | 85 mph (135 km/h) | [15] |
| Ekeka | 1992 | January 28 – February 3 | Category 3 hurricane | 115 mph (185 km/h) | Strongest off-season east Pacific tropical cyclone[2][16] |
| Hali | 1992 | March 28–30 | Tropical storm | 50 mph (80 km/h) | [16] |
| One-E | 1996 | May 13–16 | Tropical storm | 50 mph (80 km/h) | Assumed to have caused two deaths after the ship Solar Wind was lost at sea[17] |
| Paka | 1997 | December 2–7 | Tropical storm | 65 mph (105 km/h) | Later became a super typhoon in the West Pacific[18] |
| Omeka | 2010 | December 18–22 | Tropical storm | 60 mph (95 km/h) | Was subtropical from December 18–20 in central Pacific, was in the western Pacific from December 20–22, and tropical on December 22 onward in the central Pacific[19] |
| Aletta | 2012 | May 14–19 | Tropical storm | 50 mph (80 km/h) | [20] |
| Nine-C | 2015 | December 31 | Tropical depression | 35 mph (55 km/h) | Latest formation of a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific basin.[21] |
| Pali | 2016 | January 7–15 | Category 2 hurricane | 100 mph (160 km/h) | Earliest formation of a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific basin.[22] |
| Adrian | 2017 | May 9–10 | Tropical storm | 45 mph (70 km/h) | [23] |
| One-E | 2018 | May 10–11 | Tropical depression | 35 mph (55 km/h) | [24] |
| One-E | 2020 | April 25–26 | Tropical depression | 35 mph (55 km/h) | Earliest formation of a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific basin proper (east of 140°W).[25] |
| Andres | 2021 | May 9–11 | Tropical storm | 40 mph (65 km/h) | Earliest named storm in the East Pacific basin proper.[26] |
Off-season storms are most likely to occur in December, followed by May. Only one cyclone each was reported in February or in March.[2]
| Month | Number of cyclones |
|---|---|
| January | |
| February | |
| March | |
| April | |
| May (1–14) | |
| December |
