Hurricane Linda (1997)
|Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)|
|Formed||September 9, 1997|
|Dissipated||September 17, 1997|
|Highest winds||1-minute sustained: 185 mph (295 km/h)
|Lowest pressure||900 mbar (hPa); 26.58 inHg
(East Pacific record)
|Damage||$70.3 million (1997 USD)|
|Areas affected||Open Pacific Ocean waters, Socorro Island, California|
|Part of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season|
Hurricane Linda of 1997 was the strongest hurricane ever seen in the east Pacific, with continued winds of 160 knots and gusting to 190 knots, and a central pressure of 900 mbar. It was part of an abnormally active season for both the Eastern and Western Pacific Basins.
Since it was far from land, it did not cause much damage.
History[change | change source]
A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 24th. It moved across the unfavorable Atlantic without development. As it crossed Central America convection increased, and a poorly-defined center developed early on September 9th. Banding and convection increased, and it became a tropical depression that night, 400 nautical miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico.
Tropical Depression 14-E continued northwestward, and became a tropical storm on the 10th. Linda started to intensify more quickly, becoming a hurricane on the 11th 475 nautical miles south-southeast of the southern tip of Baja California. After 30 hours of rapidly intensifying, Linda reached her peak of 160 knots on the 12th, or around 185 M.P.H. winds. That is an increase of 95 knots, and a drop of 85 millibars. Linda moved directly over Socorro Island on the 12th as a Category 5 hurricane, but cooler waters weakened it greatly, dissipating it on the 17th.
Impact[change | change source]
Linda went over Soccoro Island, doing $3.2 million in damage.
In California, Linda was responsible for 8 deaths and $68 million in damage. Five people drowned in a jetty. Floods caused 3 deaths and mudslides destroyed millions of homes and caused $68 million in damage. The Southwest would get devastated again by Hurricane Nora weeks later.
Other pages[change | change source]
Other websites[change | change source]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hurricane Linda (1997)|