Hurricane Linda (1997)

Hurricane Linda (1997)

Hurricane Linda was the second-strongest eastern Pacific hurricane on record. It formed from a tropical wave on September 9, 1997, and reached hurricane status within 36 hours of developing. Linda produced light to moderate rainfall across the region, causing mudslides and flooding in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Two houses were destroyed and 77 others were damaged, and damage totaled US$3. 2 million.

About Hurricane Linda (1997) in brief

Summary Hurricane Linda (1997)Hurricane Linda was the second-strongest eastern Pacific hurricane on record. It formed from a tropical wave on September 9, 1997, and reached hurricane status within 36 hours of developing. The hurricane was briefly forecast to move toward southern California, but instead, it turned out to sea and lost its status as a tropical cyclone. It was the fifteenth tropicalcyclone, thirteenth named storm, seventh hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season. Linda produced light to moderate rainfall across the region, causing mudslides and flooding in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Two houses were destroyed and 77 others were damaged, and damage totaled US$3. 2 million. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were estimated between 180 mph and 195 mph, based on Dvorak T-numbers of 7. 5 and 8. 0 respectively, and gusts were estimated to have reached 220 mph.

The hurricane’s pressure is estimated at 902 millibars, making Linda the most intense Pacific hurricane at the time. Shortly after reaching peak intensity, Hurricane Linda passed near Socorro Island as a Category 5 hurricane. It weakened to tropical depression status by September 18, although a remnant circulation persisted for more than a few days before dissipating. The remnants of Hurricane Linda are believed to have been in a Tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on August 24, and tracked westward across the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea without development. The system continued westward, and within three days of entering the basin, a poorly defined circulation formed, and at around 1200 UTC on September 9, the system organized into Tropical Depression Fourteen-E.