Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Season of 2006
VOLUME 137 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW JANUARY 2009 Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Season of 2006 RICHARD J. PASCH,ERIC S. BLAKE,LIXION A. AVILA,JOHN L. BEVEN,DANIEL P. BROWN, JAMES L. FRANKLIN,RICHARD D. KNABB,MICHELLE M. MAINELLI,JAMIE R. RHOME, AND STACY R. STEWART Tropical Prediction Center/National Hurricane Center, NOAA/NWS/NCEP, Miami, Florida (Manuscript received 20 December 2007, in final form 20 May 2008) ABSTRACT The hurricane season of 2006 in the eastern North Pacific basin is summarized, and the individual tropical cyclones are described. Also, the official track and intensity forecasts of these cyclones are verified and evaluated. The 2006 eastern North Pacific season was an active one, in which 18 tropical storms formed. Of these, 10 became hurricanes and 5 became major hurricanes. A total of 2 hurricanes and 1 tropical depres- sion made landfall in Mexico, causing 13 direct deaths in that country along with significant property damage. On average, the official track forecasts in the eastern Pacific for 2006 were quite skillful. No appreciable improvement in mean intensity forecasts was noted, however. 1. Overview speeds in knots every 6 h for all tropical and subtropical cyclones while at or above tropical storm strength. The After three consecutive below-average hurricane ACE for 2006 in the eastern North Pacific was 120 ϫ seasons, tropical cyclone activity in the eastern North 104 kt2, or about 107% of the long-term (1971–2005) Pacific basin was above average in 2006. A total of 18 mean. Although the ACE value for 2006 was just tropical storms developed, and 10 of these strengthened slightly above average, it was the highest observed since into hurricanes (Table 1; Fig.
[Show full text]