The 1951 Pacific hurricane season ran through the summer and fall of 1951. Nine tropical systems were observed during the season. __TOC__

Systems

Tropical Storm One

A tropical storm hit near

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

early in the season in May.

Hurricane Two

A hurricane hit near

early in the season in June.

Tropical Storm Three

Three came close to land.

Tropical Storm Four

Tropical Storm Four existed from July 5 to July 6.

Tropical Storm Five

Tropical Storm Five existed from August 3 to August 10.

Tropical Storm Six

On August 24, a tropical storm was first observed south of Mexico. It paralleled the coastline, and moved northward into

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

on the 28th. It dissipated the next day, and caused moderate flooding in southern California.

Tropical Storm Seven

Tropical Storm Seven existed from September 11 to September 15.

Hurricane Eight

Hurricane Eight existed from September 23 to September 28.

Tropical Storm Nine

The final tropical cyclone of the season existed from November 27 to November 30.

Other Systems

March Kona storm

A warm-core

kona storm Kona storms (also called Kona lows) are a type of seasonal cyclone in the Hawaiian Islands, usually formed in the winter from winds coming from the westerly "kona" (normally leeward) direction. They are mainly cold core cyclones, which places the ...

transitioned into a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

at 0000 UTC on March 21, west of the Necker Island. At that time, the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) began tracking the storm with winds of , or tropical depression strength. The system began traveling eastward, and later to the northeast on March 22. Then, it turned sharply southward towards

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

on the same day. The system turned southwest toward the Hawaiian Islands at 0600 UTC of March 25, making its first landfall near Hauula on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

at 1200 UTC that day. The system weakened below tropical storm intensity as it passed through the island of Oahu. By six hours later, the system left the island and continued southward. Then, the system slowed down and curved back north toward Oahu. The system made a second landfall on Oahu near Mākaha, just past 0000 UTC on March 28. Later, the system scrapped the northwestern coast of the island. It re-entered the Pacific six hours later and turned west. The system then sped up and made its last landfall near

Kealia Kealia (literally, "the salt encrustation" in Hawaiian) is an unincorporated community on the island of Kauai in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. Its elevation is 16 feet (5 m). The Board on Geographic Names officially designat ...

, just past 0000 UTC on March 29. The storm moved quickly across the island, and it left the island about six hours later. The JTWC stopped tracking the system east of the island of

Nihoa Nihoa (; haw, Nīhoa ), also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu, is the tallest of ten islands and atolls in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The island is located at the southern end of the NWHI chain, southeast of N ...

eighteen hours later, after it had started to move across the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all p ...

. The system has been considered a tropical or an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...

. The JTWC and the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the Atmospheric sciences, atmospheric, Oceanography, oceanic, and Hydrology, hydr ...

(AMS) both consider the storm to be a tropical cyclone. However, the

Regional Specialized Meteorological Center A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as p ...

s for the eastern north Pacific, the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...

(NHC) and

Central Pacific Hurricane Center The Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) of the United States National Weather Service is the official body responsible for tracking and issuing tropical cyclone warnings, watches, advisories, discussions, and statements for the Central Pacifi ...

(CPHC) do not include the system in their archives. Due to this, the system was not considered tropical or

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

officially. On March 25, tropical storm warnings were posted for the Hawaiian Islands. Winds of were reported in Oahu as the storm came near the island. In

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, of rain was reported. The system contributed to the already above-average rainfall in the Hawaiian Islands. The rainfall amount for March 1951 was nearly 200 to 700 percent above normal. The rainfall set records for that month, but they were later broken in 2006.

References

{{1951 Pacific hurricane season buttons