The1996 Pacific hurricane season consisted of the events that occurred in the annual cycle oftropical cyclone formation over thePacific Ocean north of theequator and east of theInternational Date Line. The official bounds of each Pacific hurricane season are dates that conventionally delineate the period each year during which tropical cyclones tend to form in the basin according to theNational Hurricane Center (NHC), beginning on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific proper (east of 140°W) and June 1 in the Central Pacific (140°W to the International Date Line), and ending on November 30 in both areas. However,tropical cyclogenesis is possible at any time of year, as demonstrated by the formation of an unnamed tropical storm two days before the season officially began.[1][2] Activity during the season was below average;[nb 1] fifteen tropical depressions developed, of which only nine strengthened intonamedtropical storms. Five becamehurricanes, of which two further intensified into major hurricanes.[nb 2][3] The number of tropical storms were below average; the number of hurricanes were below average, and the number of major hurricanes was half the average of four.[4] Two tropical depressions existed in the Central Pacific in 1996: Tropical DepressionSeventeen-W crossed over from the Northwest Pacific, while Tropical DepressionOne-C formed in the Central Pacific.[5] Activity during the season ceased with the dissipation of Tropical DepressionTwelve-E on November 11.
Much of the season's activity was clustered near the coast of Southwest Mexico, with four hurricanes and one tropical storm making landfall along it. The most impactful were:Hurricane Alma, which was responsible for 20 deaths, andHurricane Fausto, which left behind damage amounting to around $800,000 (1996USD).[6][7]Hurricane Douglas was the strongest storm of the season, reaching Category 4 intensity on theSaffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Douglas developed in theCaribbean Sea, within theAtlantic Ocean, as Hurricane Cesar, beforecrossing into the Pacific as a tropical storm.[8] This was the second season on record in which there were two crossovers systens, after1988 (Debby and Joan).[9]
This timeline documents tropical cyclone formations, strengthening, weakening,landfalls,extratropical transitions, and dissipations during the season. It includes information that was not released during the season, meaning that data from post-storm reviews by theNational Hurricane Center and theCentral Pacific Hurricane Center, such as a storm that was not initially warned upon, has been included. The time stamp for each event is first stated usingCoordinated Universal Time (UTC), the24-hour clock where 00:00 = midnight UTC.[10] The NHC uses both UTC and the time zone where the center of the tropical cyclone was then located. Prior to 2015, twotime zones were utilized in the Eastern Pacific basin:Pacific for the Eastern Pacific, andHawaii−Aleutian for the Central Pacific.[11][12] In this timeline, the respective area time is included in parentheses. Additionally, figures formaximum sustained winds and position estimates are rounded to the nearest 5 units (miles, orkilometers), following National Hurricane Center practice. Direct wind observations are rounded to the nearest whole number. Atmospheric pressures are listed to the nearestmillibar and nearest hundredth of aninch of mercury.
^During the period from 1991 to 2020, an average Pacific hurricane season generated fifteen tropical storms, eight hurricanes, and four major hurricanes.[1]
^Operationally, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) assessedOne-E to have remained a tropical depression, and so did not assign it a name. Later in the season, the NHC retroactively upgraded the cyclone to a tropical storm.[13]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
