The 1999 Pacific hurricane season officially started on May 15, 1999 in the eastern Pacific, and on June 1, 1999 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 1999. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.
There were nine named storms, six hurricanes, and two major hurricanes this season. Since satellite observations began in 1966, the 1999 season was the second-least active season on record, behind the 1977 season and tied with the 1996 season. There were also five tropical depressions that did not reach tropical storm strength.
The only notable storms are Hurricanes Adrian, Dora, and Greg. Adrian and Greg both killed several people in Mexico. Hurricane Dora, the strongest storm of the season, was also long-lived and crossed the dateline.
Storms
Hurricane Adrian
Hurricane Adrian formed on June 18, 225 miles southwest of the Mexican port of Acapulco, Guerrero. The storm moved west-northwest where it reached tropical storm strength on the same day. On June 20, Adrian reached hurricane status reaching Category 2 status before weakening back into a tropical storm due to increased wind shear. Adrian dissipated on June 22. Although the storm never made landfall, the outer rainbands of the storm produced heavy rains that caused flash flooding. Two people died in the floods while four more perished offshore.1
Hurricane Beatriz
The precursor to Beatriz was a tropical wave moving off Africa on June 26. The wave did not form in the Atlantic and on July 4, the wave crossed Central America and by July 6 the system was south of Gulf of Tehuantepec. On July 9, a tropical depression formed near Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán; the depression reached tropical storm strength the same day and was named Beatriz. By July 11, Beatriz reached hurricane strength as it moved west-northwest. Computer data indicated that the storm was undergoing eyewall replacement before the storm reached a peak windspeed of 120 mph, placing it as a Category 3 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.2 The hurricane then encountered cooler waters and then dissipated on July 17. Beatriz never affected land so there were no reports of damage or deaths.
Tropical Depression Three-E
This storm formed away from Mexico.
Tropical Depression Four-E
This storm crossed into the Central Pacific.
Tropical Storm Calvin
Like Hurricane Beatriz earlier, Calvin formed from a tropical wave that originated from the coast of Africa. Calvin formed as a tropical depression on July 25 near Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. The poorly organized system briefly reached tropical storm strength before being torn apart by wind shear. The storm was over open waters so there were no reports of deaths or damage.
Tropical Depression Six-E
This was a short-lived storm.
Hurricane Dora
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Hurricane Dora was the strongest storm of the season, reaching Category 4 intensity, and was also the first storm in 5 years to affect all three basins of the Pacific Ocean (eastern, central, and western).
A tropical wave moved off Africa on July 23 and crossed the Atlantic Ocean without development. However, the wave quickly increased in organization after crossing Central America on August 4, and was designated Tropical Depression Seven-E on August 6. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Dora later that day. Dora continued to intensify despite upper-level wind shear, and became a hurricane on August 8. Shortly after, the hurricane moved westward into a more favorable environment and began to intensify more quickly, reaching Category 4 strength on August 10. It maintained that intensity for three days as it moved almost due west. Dora then weakened to Category 1 strength as it entered the area of responsibility of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center on August 14, but restrengthened into a major hurricane as it passed south of Hawaii on August 16. Dora then began weakening for the final time as it passed south of Johnston Atoll on August 18, and crossed the International Date Line on August 20 shortly before weakening to a tropical storm.
Dora caused heavy surf on the Big Island of Hawaii and Johnston Atoll, but the hurricane did not directly affect land, and no casualties were reported.3
Hurricane Eugene
Like the previous storms Beatriz and Calvin, Hurricane Eugene formed from a wave that moved off the African coast, days earlier. The tropical wave crossed Central America on July 28 and for several days, it was in the eastern Pacific Ocean near 120° W longitude. On August 6, the system reached tropical depression status 850 miles off the coast of Mexico. On the same day the storm reached tropical storm status and was named Eugene. A high pressure ridge forced Eugene westward where the storm reached Category 2 status on August 9. On August 11, Eugene reached the Central Pacific as a Category 1 hurricane with wind speeds attaining 85 mph. On August 13, Eugene weakened to a tropical storm 550 miles east of Hawaii and then dissipated on August 15. The storm caused no damage.
Tropical Depression Nine-E
This was a short-lived storm that remained far from any landmasses.
Tropical Storm Fernanda
Fernanda formed on August 17 as a tropical depression. The storm reached a peak of 65 mph on August 19 before encountering cooler waters that weakened the storm. Fernanda moved westward and encountered more wind shear which caused the storm to weaken to tropical depression status. Fernanda dissipated on August 22. Because Fernanda never affected land, there were no reports of damage or deaths.
Tropical Depression Eleven-E
This system formed near Baja California.
Hurricane Greg
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Greg formed from a tropical depression on September 5. The developing storm moved northwest, close to the Mexican coast before reaching tropical storm strength on September 6. On the same day, Greg reached hurricane strength as the storm neared the Baja California Peninsula coast. Later on the 7th, the storm encountered wind shear which weakened the storm and later, Hurricane Greg made landfall in Baja California Sur as a tropical storm, triggering widespread flooding that killed ten people.
Hurricane Hilary
A tropical wave moved off the coast of western Africa into the Atlantic Ocean on August 29, and continued to move westward through the tropical waters of the Atlantic into the Caribbean. It still remained a tropical wave as it moved over Central America and began to gather more convection and organization, from September 10 through September 11. Visible satellite imagery showed low level circulation and more organized deep convection as it became a tropical depression on September 17, 475 miles south-southeast of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. The system reached tropical storm strength and was named Hilary, the eighth named storm of the 1999 Pacific hurricane season. It became a 75 mph hurricane on September 20, 200 miles southwest of the Baja California Peninsula. As a hurricane, Hilary developed a banding-type eye before weakening back into a tropical storm on September 20, the same day it became a hurricane. Hilary dissipated the next day into a swirl of low-level clouds, as it bypassed Baja California on September 21. There were no known reports of injuries or deaths from the storm.4
Tropical Storm Irwin
The final storm of the 1999 Pacific hurricane season formed on October 8. The developing storm moved northwest where it became Tropical Storm Irwin on the same day. Irwin came within 75 miles of the Mexican coastline before being sheared apart on October 10. Irwin dissipated the next day, 350 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, ending the 1999 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storm Irwin never affected land, so there were no reports of damage or fatalities.
Accumulated Cyclone Energy
| Accumulated Cyclone Energy (104kt2) |
| Name |
ACE |
Name |
ACE |
| Dora |
45.5 |
Hilary |
3.26 |
| Beatriz |
17.3 |
Fernanda |
2.10 |
| Eugene |
14.7 |
Irwin |
1.16 |
| Adrian |
5.81 |
Calvin |
0.49 |
| Greg |
3.39 |
| Total: 94.2 |
Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) is a measure of how active a hurricane season is. It is determined by taking the windspeed of all cyclones with at least gale-force winds every six hours, squaring it, and adding up the results.
The total ACE of this season is 94.2 104kt2. As it is below 95 104kt2, this season's ACE is barely below the statistical mean for Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons. Hurricane Dora is one of the few Pacific hurricanes with an ACE above 40 104kt2. It accounts for almost half of this season's ACE. Only Dora's ACE east of the dateline is included here; its ACE west of the dateline is part of the 1999 Pacific typhoon season.
Storm names
The following names were used for named storms that formed in the eastern Pacific in 1999. Names that were not assigned are marked in gray. No names were retired, so it was used again in the 2005 season. This is the same list used for the 1993 season.
- Adrian
- Beatriz
- Calvin
- Dora
- Eugene
- Fernanda
- Greg
- Hilary
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- Irwin
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Jova (unused)
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Kenneth (unused)
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Lidia (unused)
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Max (unused)
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Norma (unused)
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Otis (unused)
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Pilar (unused)
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Ramon (unused)
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Selma (unused)
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Todd (unused)
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Veronica (unused)
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Wiley (unused)
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Xina (unused)
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York (unused)
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Zelda (unused)
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No central Pacific names were used; the first name used would have been Upana.
See also
References
External links
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Tropical cyclones of the 1999 Pacific hurricane season
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