Hurricane Otis (1987)
Hurricane Otis reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between September 20, 1987 and September 26, 1987.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Otis. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- September 20, 1987 to September 26, 1987
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 1523 km (946 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 14.3
- Fastest the center moved
- 16 kt (18 mph)
- Identifier
- EP151987
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 00:00 | 10.2N 119.5W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 20, 06:00 | 10.5N 119.9W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 20, 12:00 | 11.0N 120.1W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 20, 18:00 | 11.4N 120.3W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 21, 00:00 | 11.8N 120.4W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 21, 06:00 | 12.5N 120.6W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 21, 12:00 | 13.2N 120.8W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 21, 18:00 | 13.7N 121.2W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 22, 00:00 | 14.1N 121.6W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 22, 06:00 | 14.5N 121.8W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 22, 12:00 | 14.8N 122.2W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 22, 18:00 | 15.1N 122.7W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 00:00 | 15.4N 123.2W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 06:00 | 15.7N 123.7W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 12:00 | 16.1N 124.5W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 23, 18:00 | 16.4N 125.0W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 24, 00:00 | 16.7N 125.7W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 24, 06:00 | 16.9N 126.4W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 24, 12:00 | 17.1N 126.9W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 24, 18:00 | 17.4N 127.7W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 25, 00:00 | 17.4N 128.7W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 25, 06:00 | 17.4N 129.7W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Sep 25, 12:00 | 17.3N 131.0W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 25, 18:00 | 17.3N 132.4W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 26, 00:00 | 17.2N 134.1W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 26, 06:00 | 17.2N 135.7W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 26, 12:00 | 17.3N 137.4W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Sep 26, 18:00 | 17.5N 138.7W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1987
- Tropical Storm AdrianEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm BeatrizEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm CalvinEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm DoraEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane WynneEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane EugeneEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm FernandaEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane GregEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane HilaryEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm IrwinEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane JovaEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm OkaEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm KnutEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane LidiaEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane MaxEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane NormaEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane PekeEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm PilarEastern Pacific · 1987
- Hurricane RamonEastern Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm SelmaEastern Pacific · 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.