Track map & timeline · Eastern Pacific · August 28 – September 7, 1972
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Hurricane Hyacinth (1972) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1972 Eastern Pacific season. It formed on August 28, 1972, 300 mi SSW of Retalhuleu, Guatemala, reached its peak of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 962 mb on August 31, 1972, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 52 mph in 24 hours (to 98 mph on August 31, 1972). The storm lasted 10.0 days and travelled about 3,314 miles (5,332 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico | 45 mi | Sep 6 · 12:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| San Diego, California | 28 mi | Sep 6 · 12:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Long Beach, California | 66 mi | Sep 6 · 12:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Chula Vista, California | 35 mi | Sep 6 · 12:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Santa Ana, California | 54 mi | Sep 6 · 13:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Irvine, California | 48 mi | Sep 6 · 13:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Anaheim, California | 61 mi | Sep 6 · 14:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Riverside, California | 49 mi | Sep 6 · 17:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Fontana, California | 58 mi | Sep 6 · 17:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| San Bernardino, California | 54 mi | Sep 6 · 19:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.9°N 94.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.7°N 94.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.5°N 95.8°W | open ocean |
| Aug 28 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 10.4°N 96.6°W | open ocean |
| Aug 29 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.4°N 97.5°W | open ocean |
| Aug 29 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.5°N 98.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 29 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 10.9°N 99.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 29 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 11.7°N 101.2°W | open ocean |
| Aug 30 00:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 12.6°N 103.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 30 06:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 13.1°N 104.0°W | open ocean |
| Aug 30 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 13.6°N 104.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 30 18:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 984 mb | 14.0°N 105.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 31 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 14.4°N 106.9°W | open ocean |
| Aug 31 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 14.9°N 108.1°W | open ocean |
| Aug 31 12:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 15.3°N 109.4°W | open ocean |
| Aug 31 18:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | 972 mb | 15.5°N 110.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 1 00:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 15.8°N 112.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 1 06:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 16.2°N 113.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 1 12:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 16.7°N 114.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 1 18:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 17.1°N 116.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 2 00:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 17.5°N 117.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 2 06:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 17.9°N 118.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 2 12:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 18.2°N 119.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 2 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 962 mb | 18.6°N 120.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 19.1°N 120.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 19.6°N 121.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 20.3°N 122.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 3 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 21.1°N 123.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 22.0°N 124.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 06:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 23.0°N 124.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 12:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 24.2°N 124.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 4 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | 990 mb | 26.4°N 125.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 28.7°N 124.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 29.9°N 123.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 30.7°N 122.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 5 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1009 mb | 31.3°N 120.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 6 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 31.9°N 119.5°W | 148 mi WSW of San Diego, California |
| Sep 6 06:00 | TD extratropical | 35 mph | — | 32.4°N 118.4°W | 75 mi WSW of San Diego, California |
| Sep 6 12:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | — | 33.0°N 117.5°W | 14 mi SW of Carlsbad, California |
| Sep 6 18:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | — | 33.5°N 116.7°W | 23 mi SE of Hemet, California |
| Sep 7 00:00 | TD extratropical | 29 mph | — | 34.1°N 116.0°W | near Twentynine Palms, California |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Hyacinth. Its closest approach to a major city was 28 miles from San Diego, California.
At its peak on August 31, 1972, Hyacinth was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a central pressure of 962 mb.
10.0 days, from August 28, 1972 to September 7, 1972, including 102 hours at hurricane strength (30 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 3,314 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
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