1932 Pacific hurricane season explained

Basin:EPac
Year:1932
First Storm Formed:June 21, 1932
Last Storm Dissipated:October 1, 1932
Strongest Storm Name:One
Strongest Storm Winds:115
Total Storms:5
Total Hurricanes:4
Fatalities:15
Damages:5
Five Seasons:1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934
Atlantic Season:1932 Atlantic hurricane season
West Pacific Season:1932 Pacific typhoon season
North Indian Season:1930s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons

The 1932 Pacific hurricane season ran through the summer and fall of 1932. Before the satellite age started in the 1960s, data on east Pacific hurricanes was extremely unreliable. Most east Pacific storms were of no threat to land.

Systems

Hurricane One

A tropical cyclone formed in the Gulf of Tehuantepec on June 18. It moved along the coast, became a hurricane, and was last seen June 21. The lowest pressure was an uncorrected 29.48inHg. This hurricane was reported to have winds of 130 mph.[1]

Tropical Storm Two

On August 21, tropical cyclone was heading northwestward south of the Revillagigedo Islands. A ship at the fringes of the cyclone measured a pressure of 29.08inHg.[2]

Hurricane Three

Between August 25 and 27, a "tropical hurricane" formed offshore southern Mexico, and moved north-northwest into southwest Mexico east of Manzanillo before dissipating.[3]

Hurricane Four

Somewhere southwest of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, a tropical cyclone formed on September 24. It paralleled the coast, and intensified into a hurricane on September 25. It then recurved, and made landfall near Mazatlán late during the night of September 26 and 27, while still a hurricane. It dissipated inland over the mountains of Mexico. The lowest pressure reported by a ship was 28.64inHg. The hurricane caused about $5,000,000 (1932 USD) in damage.[2]

Hurricane Five

On September 26, a hurricane was spotted south of Acapulco. It headed along the coast, and entered the Gulf of California sometime on or after September 28,[4] wherein it moved north-northwest and dissipated, with its remnants continuing into the Southwestern United States.[5]

Powerful winds in Mazatlán were attributed to this system.[4] Over a four-day period ending October 1, those remnants caused heavy rain of up to 7inches in the mountains of Southern California. Over a seven-hour period, 4.38inches fell at Tehachapi.[5] That total by itself is enough to make this tropical cyclone one of California's wettest tropical storm.[6] Those rains also caused flash flooding on Tehachapi and Agua Caliente Creeks, which killed fifteen people.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. North Pacific Ocean, June 1932. Monthly Weather Review. 2011-01-18. Willis . Hurd . June 1932. 60 . 6 . 139 . 10.1175/1520-0493(1932)60<139:NPOJ>2.0.CO;2 . 1932MWRv...60..139H .
  2. North Pacific Ocean, August 1932. Monthly Weather Review. 2011-01-18. Willis . Hurd . August 1932. 60 . 8 . 169 . 10.1175/1520-0493(1932)60<169:NPOA>2.0.CO;2 . 1932MWRv...60..169H .
  3. Book: Pressure Center Tracks From the 1300 GMT Northern Hemisphere Sea Level Pressure Maps. Tracks of Lows 1929-1933. United States Weather Bureau. 1947.
  4. North Pacific Ocean, September 1932. Monthly Weather Review. 2011-01-18. Willis . Hurd . September 1932. 60 . 9 . 186 . 10.1175/1520-0493(1932)60<186:NPOS>2.0.CO;2 . 1932MWRv...60..186H .
  5. News: USA Today. Jack. Williams. Background: California's tropical storms. 2005-05-17. 2012-05-12.
  6. Web site: Tropical Cyclone Rainfall for the West . David M . Roth . . 2011-01-18.
  7. Web site: A History of Significant Weather Events in Southern California . National Weather Service Forecast Office San Diego. 2012-05-12 . January 2007.