The 1987 season

Hurricane Hilary (1987)

Hurricane Hilary reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between July 31, 1987 and August 9, 1987.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Hilary, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1987 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
July 31, 1987 to August 9, 1987
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 377 km (234 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.4
Fastest the center moved
13 kt (15 mph)
Identifier
EP081987

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 31, 18:0010.7N 92.4W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 00:0011.0N 93.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 06:0011.4N 94.4W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 1, 12:0011.7N 95.3W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0011.9N 96.3W40 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0012.1N 97.2W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0012.3N 98.2W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0012.5N 99.3W65 ktHurricane
Aug 2, 18:0012.7N 100.3W70 ktHurricane
Aug 3, 00:0013.0N 101.6W75 ktHurricane
Aug 3, 06:0013.4N 102.8W80 ktHurricane
Aug 3, 12:0013.8N 104.0W90 ktHurricane
Aug 3, 18:0014.2N 105.2W100 ktHurricane
Aug 4, 00:0014.6N 106.4W105 ktHurricane
Aug 4, 06:0014.9N 107.5W105 ktHurricane
Aug 4, 12:0015.2N 108.4W105 ktHurricane
Aug 4, 18:0015.4N 109.4W90 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 00:0015.6N 110.4W85 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 06:0015.9N 111.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 12:0016.2N 112.2W85 ktHurricane
Aug 5, 18:0016.7N 113.1W95 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 00:0017.0N 114.0W95 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 06:0017.5N 114.8W90 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 12:0018.2N 115.7W85 ktHurricane
Aug 6, 18:0018.8N 116.9W75 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 00:0019.2N 117.9W65 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 06:0019.6N 118.7W65 ktHurricane
Aug 7, 12:0020.0N 119.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0020.5N 120.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0021.2N 120.8W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0021.5N 121.3W55 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0021.7N 121.9W45 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0021.9N 122.6W35 ktTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0022.1N 123.3W30 ktTropical depression
Aug 9, 06:0022.4N 123.9W30 ktTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1987

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.