1974 Pacific hurricane season

1974 Pacific hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedMay 28, 1974
Last system dissipatedOctober 24, 1974
Strongest storm
NameMaggie
 • Maximum winds140 mph (220 km/h)
(1-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure928 mbar (hPa; 27.4 inHg)
Seasonal statistics
Total depressions25
Total storms18
Hurricanes11
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)
3
Total fatalities18-33
Total damage$4 million (1974 USD)
Related articles
Pacific hurricane seasons
1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976

The 1974 Pacific hurricane season featured one of the most active periods of tropical cyclones on record with five storms existing simultaneously.[1] The season officially started May 15 in the eastern Pacific, and June 1 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeast Pacific Ocean.

With 17 named storms and 11 hurricanes, this season was slightly above average. An additional tropical storm formed in the Central Pacific as well. The year also featured a period where six systems, Ione, Olive, Kirsten, Lorraine, Joyce, and Maggie, were all active at once on August 26, a very unusual occurrence. At the time, Olive was a Central Pacific storm that had weakened to a tropical depression while the other five were of at least tropical storm intensity simultaneously and remained so until early on August 27. Five storms were also active between the evening of August 23 and the morning of August 24.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MWR1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).