Hurricane Bridget
Hurricane Bridget of June 1971 was one of the worst hurricanes to strike the Mexican city of Acapulco. It formed on June 14 as a tropical depression, which is a minimal tropical cyclone with winds less than gale force. However, it was soon upgraded to a tropical storm, and Bridget steadily intensified to become a hurricane on June 15. After peaking at Category 2 intensity, it weakened to a tropical storm on June 17, then made landfall in Mexico. Hours later, however, it turned offshore as a tropical depression. Bridget dissipated on June 20 after leaving heavy damage and 17 deaths in the Acapulco area. Meteorological history The origins of the hurricane were from a tropical wave that exited the coast of Africa on June 3. Around four days later the system entered the Caribbean Sea, passing over the San Andres islands on June 12. The area of convection, or thunderstorms, spread across Central America. A surface circulation developed offshore El Salvador, and the system formed into a tropical depression on June 14. For much of the summer of 1971, a large pool of anomalously warm water temperatures extended from Central America to the Gulf of California off the Mexican