page_title: 1959 Mexico hurricane
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: 1959 Mexico hurricane / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Hurricane Fifteen of the 1959 Pacific hurricane season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm typeTropical cycloneSubtropical cycloneExtratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance
context_page_description: The 1959 Mexico hurricane was the deadliest Pacific hurricane on record. First observed south of Mexico on October 23, the cyclone tracked northwestward. It intensified into a Category 3 hurricane on October 25 and reached Category 4 intensity on the following day. After turning toward the northeast, the hurricane made landfall near Manzanillo, Mexico at peak intensity. The system continued on that trajectory before dissipating on the next day.
  Impact from the hurricane was severe and widespread. Initially forecast to remain offshore, the system curved northeast and moved ashore, becoming one of Mexico's worst natural disasters at the time. Up to 150 boats were submerged. Countless homes in Colima and Jalisco were damaged or destroyed, large portions of the states were inaccessible by flash flooding, and hundreds of residents were stranded. All coconut plantations were blown down during the storm, leaving thousands without work and instating fear that it would take the economy years to recover. Torrential rainfall across mountain terrain contributed to numerous mudslides that caused hundreds of fatalities.
context_section_description: On October 22, a low pressure area was present south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, having originated out of an area of disturbed weather in the region the day before. That day, two ships reported gale-force winds, suggesting that a tropical storm formed by 12:00 UTC. Moving west-northwestward parallel to the southwest coast of Mexico, the system steadily intensified, reaching hurricane status by late on October 23. The storm continued to intensify, although there were few ships in the path to record the intensity until October 26. During that time, interpolation of observations suggests that the storm attained major hurricane intensity – a Category 3 on the modern Saffir–Simpson scale – with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on October 25.
  On October 26, the hurricane turned abruptly to the northeast toward the Mexican coast. At 00:00 UTC on October 27, a nearby ship recorded winds of 130 km/h (80 mph), confirming the increase in intensity. Six hours later, another ship recorded winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). At around 12:00 UTC on October 27, the hurricane made landfall just northwest of Manzanillo, Colima, with an eye 13 mi (20 km) in diameter. The Mary Barbara – a ship in Manzanillo Harbor – estimated winds of 155 mph (250 km/h), which was the basis for the previous estimated landfall intensity of 160 mph (260 km/h), which was later determined to be an overestimate. The same ship reported a minimum barometric pressure of 958 mbar (28.3 inHg) in the southeastern periphery of the eyewall; this, in conjunction with other nearby readings, suggested a minimum central pressure of 955 mbar (28.2 inHg). A reanalysis in 2016 indicated that the hurricane's peak intensity at landfall was 140 mph (220 km/h), based on uncertainties in the wind estimates, the central pressure, as well as the storm's small size and slow movement. The hurricane rapidly weakened over the mountainous terrain of southwestern Mexico. Within 12 hours of landfall, the system weakened to tropical storm status, and on October 28, the storm dissipated.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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