1973 Pacific Hurricane Season

The 1973 Pacific hurricane season was an event in tropical cyclone meteorology. The most important system this year was Hurricane Ava, which was the most intense Pacific hurricane known at the time. Several other much weaker tropical cyclones came close to, or made landfall on, the Pacific coast of Mexico. The most serious of these was Hurricane Irah, which downed power and communication lines in parts of the Baja California Peninsula; the other landfalling storms caused rain and some flooding. No tropical cyclone this season caused any deaths.

This season had a quick start but a slow end. Overall activity was below average, with twelve named systems in total. Of these, five were tropical storms, seven were hurricanes, of which three were major (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale). Just one storm formed in August, one of the least active Augusts ever in the east Pacific. The season officially started May 15, 1973 in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, 1973 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 1973. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. All tropical cyclones this season formed in the eastern north Pacific Ocean, often off the coast of Mexico. As is usual in the northern hemisphere, most traveled generally westward or northwestward, and two reached as far as the waters south of the Hawaiian Islands.