1959 Mexico hurricane

1959 Mexico hurricane
Category 5 hurricane (SSHS)
Formed October 23, 1959 (1959-10-23)
Dissipated October 29, 1959 (1959-10-30)
Highest winds 1-minute sustained:
260 km/h (160 mph)
Lowest pressure ≤958 hPa (mbar)
Fatalities 1000-1800 (deadliest East Pacific hurricane)
Damage ≥ $280 million (1959 USD)
Areas affected Colima and Jalisco, much of western Mexico
Part of the 1959 Pacific hurricane season

The 1959 Mexico Hurricane was a devastating tropical cyclone that was one of the worst ever Pacific hurricanes. It impacted the Pacific coast of Mexico in October 1959. It killed at least 1,000 people, and perhaps double that, a record that still stands, and caused at least 280 million dollars in damage. The system's worst impact was in the states of Colima and Jalisco due to high winds, and flooding. This hurricane was also a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and set several records, related to both impact and meteorological statistics.

Contents

Meteorological history

The fifteenth known tropical cyclone of the 1959 season and twelfth storm in the Eastern North Pacific was first noticed on October 23, south of Mexico. As it was already a Category 1 hurricane, it had probably formed a little bit earlier than this date. It took the usual northwesterly track for hurricanes in the eastern Pacific. It steadily intensified, becoming a major hurricane on October 25 and reaching Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale the next day. This was followed by a turn to the northeast. It continued to intensify, and became a Category 5 on October 27. It smashed ashore close to Manzanillo, Colima. Weakened quickly by landfall, it dissipated over central Mexico on October 29.[1]

This hurricane's lowest central pressure is 958 millibars. Its highest windspeed is 140 knots(160 mph, 260 km/h). The official "best track" data set indicates that this velocity was attained after landfall.[1] However, a minor revision corrects this error, making it clear that the hurricane strengthened over water and confirming that the hurricane made landfall with strong winds due to a reading above 135 knots (155 mph, 250 km/h) in Manzanillo. The revision also indicates that the hurricane may have had higher winds than officially recorded.[2]

Impact

Landfalling Pacific major hurricanes
Intensity is measured solely by wind speed
Hurricane Season Landfall winds Source
Unnamed 1959 160 mph (257.50 km/h) [3]
Kenna 2002 150 mph (241.40 km/h) [4]
Iniki 1992 145 mph (233.35 km/h) [5]
Liza 1976 145 mph (233.35 km/h) [6]
Madeline 1976 145 mph (233.35 km/h) [6]
Lane 2006 125 mph (201.17 km/h) [7]
Olivia 1967 125 mph (201.17 km/h) [3]
Tico 1983 125 mph (201.17 km/h) [8]
Kiko 1989 120 mph (193.12 km/h) [9]
Olivia 1975 115 mph (185.07 km/h) [10]

Thousands of people were unprepared for the storm. Thus, the system was dubbed "a sneak hurricane". After passing well offshore from Acapulco, it was forecast to head out to sea. Instead, it recurved east and made landfall.[11]

The hurricane had devastating effects on the places it hit. It killed at least 1,000 people directly,[12] and perhaps as many as 1,500[13] or 1,800.[12] It was Mexico's worst natural disaster in recent times.[11] Most of the destruction was in Colima and Jalisco.[14] A preliminary estimate of property damage was $280 million (1959 USD).[15]

The storm sank three merchant ships,[13] and two other vessels.[16] On one ship, the Sinaloa,[17] 21 of 38 hands went down.[18] On another, the El Caribe, all hands were lost.[17] As many as 150 total boats were sunk.[14]

A quarter of the homes in Cihuatlán, Jalisco, were totally destroyed, leaving many homeless.[13] In Manzanillo, Colima, 40 percent of all homes were destroyed, and four ships in the harbour were sunk.[19] Large portions of Colima and Jalisco were isolated by flooding. Hundreds of people were stranded. Minatitlán, Colima, suffered especially, as 800 people out of its population of 1000 were dead or missing, according to a message sent to President Adolfo López Mateos.[16] In Colima, all coconut plantations were blown down and thousands of people were left out of work. That state's economy was damaged enough that officials thought it would take years to recover.[14]

The hurricane also dumped heavy rains along its path. This water-logged the hills near Minatitlán, and contributed to huge mudslide late on October 29 that claimed 800 victims. The slide uncovered hundreds of venomous scorpions and snakes, which killed tens more people in the aftermath.[12] Additional hordes of scorpions were driven from their nests when the adobe walls crumbled away. The Governor of Colima, Rodolfo Chávez Carrillo with the support of his wife, Lucia Pardo de Chavez, issued a plea for venom inoculations afterwards.[11] In some places, the mud was 10 feet (3.0 m) deep.[20] Water supplies were badly polluted, both by debris and dead bodies.[14]

In the aftermath, air rescue operations were conducted, but the destruction of roads in the area hindered convoys carrying aid.[21] Planes also made supply drops, but rescue operations were hindered by broken roads and rails.[16] Survivors were vaccinated against typhoid and tetanus.[20] Part of Manzanillo was placed under quarantine.[14]

Records

Deadliest Pacific hurricanes
Rank Hurricane Season Fatalities
1 "Mexico" 1959 1,800+
2 Paul 1982 1,424
3 Liza 1976 650–1,000
4 Tara 1961 436–500
5 Aletta 1982 308
6 Pauline 1997 230–400
7 Agatha 2010 190
8 Tico 1983 135
9 Ismael 1995 116
10 "Mazatlán" 1943 100
Lidia 1981 100
Main article: List of Pacific hurricanes

This hurricane holds several records: By windspeed, it is the strongest landfall of any known East Pacific hurricane.[22] Of the five tropical cyclones to make landfall in Mexico at Category 5 intensity,[23][24] this one was only one to do so on the Pacific coast of Mexico.[23] The other four are hurricanes Janet, Anita, Gilbert,[23] and Dean.[24] Also, it is the only known Pacific hurricane to make landfall as a Category 5.[1][2][22] Reaching Category 5 intensity on October 27, it holds the record for the latest date any Pacific hurricane has done that in a season.[1] Similarly, it is the first known Pacific hurricane to reach Category 5 intensity in the eastern Pacific proper (between 140°W and North America); the only earlier system, Hurricane Patsy, was located in the Central Pacific (140°W to the dateline),[1] although records before 1949 remain incomplete.

The cyclone was the deadliest east Pacific hurricane. Its death totals are higher than any other known Pacific hurricane,[12][13][25] including Hurricanes Paul[26] and Liza,[12][27][28] the only other known systems to come close to, or exceed, 1000 deaths. It was also one of the most intense landfalling Pacific Hurricanes.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Eastern North Pacific Tracks File 1949-2007". National Hurricane Center. 2008-03-04. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822035410/http%3A//www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracks1949to2007_epa.txt. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 
  2. ^ a b "EPAC HURDAT Metadata". Archived from the original on 2009-06-24. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/metadataEPAC.html. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 
  3. ^ a b Eric S. Blake, Ethan J. Gibney, Daniel P. Brown, Michelle Mainelli, James L. Franklin and Todd B. Kimberlain National Hurricane Center; Gregory R. Hammer (June 2009) (pdf). TROPICAL CYCLONES OF THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC BASIN, 1949-2006. Asheville, North Carolina: National Hurricane Center, National Climatic Data Center. pp. 8, 78. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TC_Book_Epac_1949-2006_hires.pdf. Retrieved August 14, 2011. 
  4. ^ James L. Franklin (2002). "Hurricane Kenna Tropical Cyclone Report". National Hurricane Center. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2002kenna.shtml. Retrieved 2006-12-24. 
  5. ^ Central Pacific Hurricane Center (1992). "The 1992 Central Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season". http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/summaries/1992.php#Iniki. Retrieved 2006-03-13. 
  6. ^ a b Emil B Gunther (1977-04-01). "Eastern Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1976". Monthly Weather Review (American Meteorological Society) 105 (4): 508–522. Bibcode 1977MWRv..105..508G. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1977)105<0508:EPTCO>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1520-0493. http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0493%281977%29105%3C0508%3AEPTCO%3E2.0.CO%3B2. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 
  7. ^ Richard Knabb (2006). "Hurricane Lane Tropical Cyclone Report" (PDF). National Hurricane Center. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-EP132006_Lane.pdf. Retrieved 2006-11-30. 
  8. ^ Gunther, Emil B.; R.L. Cross (July 1984). "Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1983". Monthly Weather Review 112 (7): 1419–1440. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1984)112<1419:ENPTCO>2.0.CO;2. 
  9. ^ Max Mayfield (November 18, 1989). "Hurricane Kiko Preliminary Report Page 1". National Hurricane Center. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/epacific/ep1989-prelim/kiko/prelim01.gif. Retrieved May 25, 2009. 
  10. ^ Robert A. Baum (April 1976). "Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1975" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. American Meteorological Society. pp. 487. http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0493%281976%29104%3C0475%3AENPTCO%3E2.0.CO%3B2. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
  11. ^ a b c "Scorpions Add To Storm Havoc" (PDF). San Mateo Times. 1959-10-30. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918074614/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=48462038_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=9&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  12. ^ a b c d e (Map) Natural Hazards of North America. National Geographic Society. April 1998. 
  13. ^ a b c d E. Jáuregui (2003). "Climatology of landfalling hurricanes and tropical storms in Mexico" (PDF). Atmósfera. p. 201. Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20060614065451/http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/atmosfera/Vol16-4/ATM16401.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
  14. ^ a b c d e "Mexico Fights Threat of Epidemic After Hurricane That Killed 2,000" (PDF). Ogden Standard-Examiner. 1959-11-02. p. 8. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918075204/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=65656532_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=1&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-19. 
  15. ^ "Deaths Near 1500 in Mexico storm". Pacific Stars and Stripes. 1959-11-03. p. 31. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918075224/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=99757562_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=0&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-19. 
  16. ^ a b c "Toll of Over 1,000 Now Feared in Mexico Hurricane and Floods" (PDF). Titusville Herald. 1959-10-30. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918074548/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=104246353_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=5&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  17. ^ a b "Mexico Hurricane Kills 800". Pacific Stars and Stripes. 1959-10-31. p. 29. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918075302/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=99758651_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=2&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-17. 
  18. ^ Charles H. Guptill (1959-10-30). "Hurricane Kills 1000 in Mexico" (PDF). Lowell Sun. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918074619/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=55260698_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=0&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  19. ^ "Mexico Hit by Killer Hurricane" (PDF). Associated Press. Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. 1959-10-29. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918074553/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=464622_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=2&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 
  20. ^ a b "1,452 Dead in Hurricane". San Antonio Express and News. 1959-11-01. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918074652/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=68585115_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=0&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  21. ^ Jimmie S. Payne. "Toll in Mexico Hurricane Now at 300" (PDF). Helena Independent Record. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080918075212/http://www.thehurricanearchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=77862773_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=0&currentPage=0. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  22. ^ a b James Franklin (2002-12-26). "Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Kenna". National Hurricane Center. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2002kenna.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  23. ^ a b c E. Jáuregui (2003). "Climatology of landfalling hurricanes and tropical storms in Mexico" (PDF). Atmósfera. p. 198. Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20060614065451/http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/atmosfera/Vol16-4/ATM16401.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-17. 
  24. ^ a b James Franklin (2008-01-31). "Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Dean" (PDF). National Hurricane Center. p. 8. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL042007_Dean.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-17. 
  25. ^ Addison Whipple (1982). Storm. Time Life Books. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-8094-4312-3. 
  26. ^ E.B. Gunther, R.L. Cross, & R.A. Wagoner (May 1983). "Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1982" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. American Meteorological Society. pp. 1080, 1097–8. http://ams.allenpress.com/archive/1520-0493/111/5/pdf/i1520-0493-111-5-1080.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-13. 
  27. ^ Emil B. Gunther (April 1977). "Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones of 1976" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. American Meteorological Society. p. 508. http://ams.allenpress.com/archive/1520-0493/105/4/pdf/i1520-0493-105-4-508.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-24. 
  28. ^ Mary E. Clifford (1977). News Dictionary 1976. Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-87196-103-7. 
1950s
Patsy (1959) • "Mexico" (1959)
1970s
1990s
2000s
2010s
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