1980 Pacific hurricane season

1980 Pacific hurricane season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedApril 4, 1980
Last system dissipatedOctober 29, 1980
Strongest storm
NameKay
 • Maximum winds140 mph (220 km/h)
(1-minute sustained)
Seasonal statistics
Total depressions16
Total storms15
Hurricanes7
Major hurricanes
(Cat. 3+)
3
Total fatalities0
Total damageUnknown
Related articles
Pacific hurricane seasons
1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982

The 1980 Pacific hurricane season officially started May 15, 1980, in the eastern Pacific and June 1, 1980, in the central Pacific, lasting until November 30, 1980. These dates conventionally delimit each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern and central Pacific Ocean.[1] This season was relatively uneventful; since no tropical cyclones made landfall, there were no reports of casualties or damage.[2]

Overall, the 1980 season was slightly below the long-term average, with 16 tropical cyclones forming. Of those, 15 were named, 7 reached hurricane intensity, and only 3 became major hurricanes by attaining category 3 status or higher on the Saffir–Simpson scale.[3] All eastern Pacific systems this year formed in the eastern Pacific proper and two storms crossed into the central Pacific: Carmen from the west and Kay from the east.[4] The season had an early start when Carmen crossed over the International Date Line in April.[4] The strongest storm of this season is Hurricane Kay, peaking at 140 mph (225 km/h). Kay lasted for fourteen and a half days, which was the fifth-longest-lasting Pacific hurricane at the time.

  1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived from the original on 6 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  2. ^ Gunther, Emil B. (August 1981). "Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1980". Monthly Weather Review. 109 (8): 1701–1712. Bibcode:1981MWRv..109.1701G. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1981)109<1701:ENPTCO>2.0.CO;2.
  3. ^ National Hurricane Center; Hurricane Research Division; Central Pacific Hurricane Center (April 26, 2024). "The Northeast and North Central Pacific hurricane database 1949–2023". United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. A guide on how to read the database is available here. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ a b "Tropical Cyclones 1980" (PDF). Tropical Cyclone Report. Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2024-08-03.