Hurricane History Map

1978 Eastern and central Pacific season

22 storms formed in the Eastern and central Pacific basin in 1978, from 30 May 1978 to 30 October 1978.

Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

Years1978
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

The 1978 season in numbers

The record holds 22 storms for the 1978 Eastern and central Pacific season, of which 19 had names.19 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 14 reached hurricane strength (category 1 or more) and 8 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 22storms
  • 19tropical storm strength or more
  • 14hurricane strength or more
  • 8major (category 3 to 5)
  • 254accumulated cyclone energy

Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the squared wind speed of every position of 34 knots or more, divided by 10,000. It is approximate here because the winds are 1-minute equivalents, and it is mostly useful for comparing seasons of one basin.

Strongest storms of 1978

  • Rita (1978)15 October 1978 to 30 October 1978, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 880 hPa
  • Fico (1978)9 July 1978 to 30 July 1978, peak Category 4 (120 kt)
  • Hector (1978)22 July 1978 to 29 July 1978, peak Category 4 (120 kt)
  • Norman (1978)30 August 1978 to 7 September 1978, peak Category 4 (120 kt)
  • Carlotta (1978)17 June 1978 to 25 June 1978, peak Category 4 (115 kt)

All 22 storms of 1978

StormPeak
Aletta Category 1
Bud Tropical storm
Carlotta Category 4
Daniel Category 3
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Emilia Tropical storm
Fico Category 4
Gilma Category 3
Hector Category 4
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Iva Category 1
John Category 2
Kristy Category 2
Lane Tropical storm
Miriam Category 1
Norman Category 4
Unnamed storm Tropical depression
Paul Tropical storm
Rosa Category 1
Rita Category 5
Susan Category 4
Sergio Tropical storm

← 1977 · 1979 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1978

Embed this map

Copy this code into your web page. It is free to use. Please keep the link under the map, as it is how people find where the map comes from.