Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE)
| Accumulated Cyclone Energy | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | ACE | Rank | Name | ACE |
| 1 | Guillermo | 37.0 (2.97) | 11 | Olaf | 2.44 |
| 2 | Linda | 28.6 | 12 | Andres | 2.39 |
| 3 | Nora | 23.4 | 13 | Hilda | 1.74 |
| 4 | Felicia | 16.2 (0.665) | 14 | Kevin | 1.56 |
| 5 | Jimena | 11.8 | 15 | Blanca | 1.13 |
| 6 | Pauline | 11.3 | 16 | Carlos | 0.970 |
| 7 | Dolores | 8.36 | 17 | Marty | 0.858 |
| 8 | Enrique | 7.88 | 18 | Oliwa | (0.810) |
| 9 | Rick | 3.46 | 19 | Ignacio | 0.378 |
| 10 | Paka | (3.45) | |||
| Total: 160 (7.89) | |||||
Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) is a measure of how active a hurricane season is. It is calculated by squaring the windspeed of a cyclone with at least tropical storm-force winds every six hours, summing the results, and dividing that total by 104. This explains why Hurricane Guillermo has a higher ACE than Linda. It was not as strong as that storm, but because it was above tropical storm force for a longer time, it reached a higher ACE level. As a tropical cyclone does not have gale-force winds until it becomes a tropical storm, tropical depressions are not included in these tables. For all storms, ACE is given to three significant figures. The ACE in the east Pacific proper (140°W to North America) is given; the ACE in the central Pacific (the international dateline to 140°W) is given in brackets.
The table includes the ACE for Oliwa and Paka only during those storm's time east of the dateline. Their ACE west of the dateline is part of the totals of the 1997 typhoon season.
The Nation Hurricane Center uses ACE to rank hurricane seasons as above-normal, near-normal, and below-normal. This season has a total of 17 tropical storms, 9 hurricanes, and 7 major hurricanes. The total ACE of this season is 160*104 kt2 in the east Pacific proper. This qualifies this season as above-normal.
Read more about this topic: 1997 Pacific Hurricane Season
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