The 1982 season

Hurricane Olivia (1982)

Hurricane Olivia reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between September 18, 1982 and September 25, 1982.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Hurricane Olivia. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
September 18, 1982 to September 25, 1982
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 388 km (241 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.8
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
EP151982

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 853 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 7.41 inches (188 mm).

StationTotalPosition
COTTONWOOD WEIR7.41 in (188 mm)40.62N 111.78W
GRANT GROVE7.19 in (183 mm)36.73N 118.97W
ALTA6.45 in (164 mm)40.58N 111.63W
GOLD HILL5.84 in (148 mm)40.17N 113.83W
BRIGHAM CITY WASTE PLT5.59 in (142 mm)41.52N 112.05W
CITY CREEK WATER PLANT5.48 in (139 mm)40.83N 111.83W
BEAR RIVER REFUGE5.43 in (138 mm)41.47N 112.27W
HUNTINGTON LAKE5.40 in (137 mm)37.23N 119.22W
UNIV OF UTAH5.34 in (136 mm)40.77N 111.83W
TOOELE5.27 in (134 mm)40.53N 112.30W
LODGEPOLE5.23 in (133 mm)36.60N 118.73W
GARFIELD5.10 in (130 mm)40.72N 112.20W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 18, 18:0011.3N 101.7W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 19, 00:0011.8N 101.9W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 19, 06:0012.2N 102.1W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0012.6N 102.4W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0013.2N 103.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0013.5N 103.5W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0014.0N 104.0W65 ktHurricane
Sep 20, 12:0014.5N 104.7W65 ktHurricane
Sep 20, 18:0015.0N 105.5W80 ktHurricane
Sep 21, 00:0015.4N 106.5W95 ktHurricane
Sep 21, 06:0016.0N 107.6W100 ktHurricane
Sep 21, 12:0016.5N 108.7W115 ktHurricane
Sep 21, 18:0017.1N 110.0W125 ktHurricane
Sep 22, 00:0017.8N 111.1W125 ktHurricane
Sep 22, 06:0018.5N 112.4W125 ktHurricane
Sep 22, 12:0019.3N 114.0W115 ktHurricane
Sep 22, 18:0020.0N 115.9W110 ktHurricane
Sep 23, 00:0020.5N 117.8W100 ktHurricane
Sep 23, 06:0021.1N 119.1W75 ktHurricane
Sep 23, 12:0021.7N 120.3W70 ktHurricane
Sep 23, 18:0022.3N 121.0W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0023.4N 122.0W50 ktTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0024.7N 122.6W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0026.0N 123.0W40 ktTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0027.3N 122.9W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 25, 00:0028.4N 122.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 25, 06:0029.3N 122.3W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 25, 12:0030.0N 122.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 25, 18:0031.0N 121.4W25 ktTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1982

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.