page_title: 1975 Pacific Northwest hurricane
section_title: Impact and records
hierarchical_section_title: 1975 Pacific Northwest hurricane / Impact and records
caption_attribution_description: Unnamed Tropical Storm in North Central Pacific Ocean
context_page_description: The 1975 Pacific Northwest hurricane was an unusual Pacific tropical cyclone that attained hurricane status farther north than any other Pacific hurricane. It was officially unnamed, with the cargo ship Transcolorado providing vital meteorological data in assessing the storm. The twelfth tropical cyclone of the 1975 Pacific hurricane season, it developed from a cold-core upper-level low merging with the remnants of a tropical cyclone on August 31, well to the northeast of Hawaii. Convection increased as the circulation became better defined, and by early on September 2 it became a tropical storm. Turning to the northeast through an area of warm water temperatures, the storm quickly strengthened, and, after developing an eye, it attained hurricane status late on September 3, while located about 1,200 miles south of Alaska. After maintaining peak winds for about 18 hours, the storm rapidly weakened, as it interacted with an approaching cold front. Early on September 5, it lost its identity near the coast of Alaska.
context_section_description: At 18:00 UTC on September 3, a ship named Pluvius recorded 50 mph (85 km/h) winds near the center of the storm. At 06:00 UTC on September 4, the U.S. Navy-chartered cargo ship Transcolorado recorded winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) about 120 miles (200 km), the strongest reported winds in association with the tropical cyclone; the ship also reported 27 foot (8.5 m) swells. No significant land impact occurred in association with the cyclone, and no fatalities were reported.
  Forming at 31° N, the storm formed farther north than any other Pacific tropical cyclone at the time, though, in 2000, Tropical Storm Wene formed farther to the north. The cyclone marked the first known occurrence of a mid-Pacific upper tropospheric low developing into a tropical cyclone, though Tropical Storm Fausto in 2002 redeveloped in a similar occurrence to the hurricane. The cyclone attained hurricane status at 40° N, a record for a Pacific hurricane. Only Tropical Storm Dot in 1970, Hurricane John in 1994, Tropical Depression Guillermo in 1997, and Tropical Storm Wene in 2000 were tropical cyclones north of the latitude, of which only John was a hurricane; none maintained tropical cyclone status further north than the cyclone.
caption: The cyclone shortly before becoming a tropical storm
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