 Hurricane Fico was the longest-lived hurricane of the 1978 Pacific hurricane season and became the longest-lasting Pacific hurricane on record, a record broken by Hurricane Tina fourteen years later. The sixth tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane, Fico developed from a tropical disturbance off the coast of Mexico on July 9. It moved northwestward and then westward, quickly reaching peak winds of 140 mph (220 km / h) on July 12. Moving nearly due westward, the intensity of Fico fluctuated from Category 1 to Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale for the following days, and it passed about 170 miles (275 km) south of Hawaii on July 20 with winds of 115 mph (185 km / h). Fico slowly weakened as it turned to the northwest over cooler waters, and became an extratropical cyclone on July 28 to the northeast of Midway Island.
