Hurricane Daniel Eastern Pacific 2006

Information on Hurricane Daniel 2006

Daniel was the first Category 4 Hurricane of the 2006 Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season. Category 4 and 5 storms are rare in the Eastern Pacific Basin. The last category 4 storm was Kenneth in 2005. There have been 30 Category 4 or greater storms in the last 32 years.

Hurricane Daniel formed almost due south of Cabo San Lucas so never really posed a threat to the peninsula. The storm gathered strength very quickly as it moved almost due west. The Storm was long lived, surviving 10 days and moving 2/3 of the distance to Hawaii.

It is not usual for storms to maintain great intensity for long periods of time. Daniel however, maintained Category 4 strength for 72 hrs as it moved westward..

Tropical Depression 5E formed on the evening of 7/16 about 745 miles SSE of Cabo San Lucas and was upgraded to Tropical Storm status in the 9AM 7/17 forecast from the NHC. On 07/18 at 3PM MDT Daniel was upgraded to Hurricane Category 1 status. Daniel became a Category 2 storm on the afternoon of 07/19 and in the 11PM NHC update was almost a Category 3 hurricane. By 9AM MDT on 7/20, Hurricane Daniel had achieved Category 4 status with sustained winds in excess of 115kts. In the afternoon of 07/20 Daniel lessen slightly to Category 3 status, but regained strength by 10PM and became s solid Category 4 storm.

    
Click to enlarge

ALSO CHECK OUT OUR WEEKLY HURRICANE WATCH ARTICLE - TAKE A LOOK AT THE FACTORS THAT LEAD TO TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION AND TAKE A STRATEGIC LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD. CLICK HERE FOR MORE...

Aletta • Bud • Carlotta • Daniel • Emilia • Fabio • Gilma • Hector • Ileana • John • Kristy • Lane • Miriam • Norman • Olivia