Hurricane Nora (1997)

Hurricane Nora (1997)

Tropical Storm Nora was the seventh hurricane of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season. Nora peaked at Category 4 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. It made landfall twice as a hurricane in the Baja California Peninsula. It is the third known system to have made landfall in the United States while still tropical.

About Hurricane Nora (1997) in brief

Summary Hurricane Nora (1997)Tropical Storm Nora was the seventh hurricane of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season. It formed off the Pacific coast of Mexico, and was aided by waters warmed by the 1997–98 El Niño event. Nora peaked at Category 4 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. It made landfall twice as a hurricane in the Baja California Peninsula. It was only the third tropical cyclone on record to reach Arizona as a tropical storm, and one of the rare cyclones to make landfall in Baja. Nora’s remnants lashed the Southwestern United States with tropical-storm-force winds, torrential rain and flooding. It persisted far inland and eventually dissipated near the Arizona–Nevada border. The storm was blamed for two direct casualties in Mexico, as well as substantial beach erosion on the Mexican coast, flash flooding in Bajas California, and record precipitation in Arizona.

The remnants of Nora gradually became more diffuse over the following two days while moving generally northeastward, through portions of Utah, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming, before dissipating on September 28. It is the third known system to have made landfall in the United States while still tropical, and the third system to do so in the history of tropical cyclones. It has also been the only tropical storm to cause significant damage in the state of California, which is home to the University of California at San Diego. Nora has been named the fourth most destructive tropical storm ever recorded in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, with winds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) and gusts of more than 150 mph (240 kph) It has been the most powerful hurricane to hit Mexico since Hurricane Erika, which made landfall on September 16, 1997.