Season Summary
| TD | TS | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 |
This hurricane season officially started on May 15, 1996 in the eastern Pacific, and on June 1, 1996 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 1996. These dates limit the time period when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. In actuality the season exceeded these limits slightly with the formation of Tropical Depression One-E on May 13 and ended on November 11 with the dissipation of Tropical Depression Twelve-E.
This season was below average in activity. In the eastern north Pacific, eleven tropical cyclones formed. Of these, four became hurricanes, one of which were major hurricanes because they reached Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The remainder were tropical storms. In addition, one Atlantic hurricane, Hurricane Cesar, crossed into this zone from the Atlantic Ocean and was renamed Douglas. None of the systems in the eastern north Pacific crossed 140°W and entered the central Pacific. The last time that happened was in the 1979 season.
In the central north Pacific, one tropical depression formed. In addition, a depression crossed the dateline from the western Pacific before dissipating in this basin. None of these two systems reached tropical storm strength.
In terms of the number of storms, the season was below average. Despite this, there were a large number of landfalls. Of note is the fact that three tropical cyclones approached close to, or made landfall on, Mexico during a ten-day span from June 23 to July 3.
Read more about this topic: 1996 Pacific Hurricane Season
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