The 1997 season

Hurricane Erika (1997)

Hurricane Erika reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between September 3, 1997 and September 19, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 946 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Erika, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1997 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
North Atlantic
Dates
September 3, 1997 to September 19, 1997
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
946 mb (27.94 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 320 km (199 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
26.6
Fastest the center moved
21 kt (24 mph)
Identifier
AL071997

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA Storm Events

0 deaths (0 direct, 0 indirect)none recorded

What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 1 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.

In the United States

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths
0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)
Injuries
0
Property damage
none recorded
Crop damage
none recorded
Events recorded
4 in 4 reports from 1 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine areaDeathsInjuriesDamageEvents
Puerto Rico004

What was recorded

4 hurricane (typhoon).

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 3, 06:0010.9N 44.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 3, 12:0011.5N 45.5W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Sep 3, 18:0012.3N 47.1W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0013.1N 48.5W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0013.9N 49.9W50 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0014.6N 51.7W55 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0015.2N 53.7W65 kt999 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 00:0015.6N 55.3W65 kt998 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 06:0016.0N 56.4W65 kt997 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 12:0016.4N 57.4W65 kt996 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 18:0017.0N 58.3W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 00:0017.5N 59.2W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 06:0018.1N 60.0W70 kt986 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 12:0018.6N 60.9W70 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 18:0019.0N 61.7W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 00:0019.4N 62.4W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 06:0019.7N 62.8W75 kt978 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 12:0020.2N 63.1W75 kt975 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 18:0020.6N 63.2W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 00:0021.2N 63.2W95 kt966 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 06:0021.8N 63.2W100 kt961 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 12:0022.5N 62.9W105 kt957 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 18:0023.2N 62.5W110 kt952 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 00:0024.1N 62.0W110 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 06:0025.2N 61.4W110 kt946 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0026.5N 60.8W110 kt947 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0027.9N 60.2W110 kt951 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0029.3N 59.6W105 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 06:0030.8N 58.9W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 12:0032.2N 58.3W95 kt965 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 18:0033.6N 57.5W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 00:0034.8N 56.4W80 kt973 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 06:0035.7N 55.1W75 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 12:0036.4N 53.6W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 18:0037.1N 51.9W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 00:0037.6N 49.9W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0038.0N 48.0W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0038.5N 46.2W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0038.9N 44.9W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0039.0N 44.0W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0038.9N 43.2W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0038.5N 42.3W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0038.1N 41.3W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0037.8N 40.2W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0037.6N 39.1W50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0037.6N 37.9W55 kt989 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0037.8N 36.5W55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0038.2N 35.0W60 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0038.9N 33.4W55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0039.7N 31.7W50 kt983 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0040.9N 29.9W50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0042.2N 28.2W50 kt985 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 06:0043.5N 26.5W50 kt987 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 12:0045.0N 24.5W50 kt989 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 18:0046.0N 22.5W55 kt991 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 00:0046.8N 21.0W60 kt993 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 06:0047.0N 20.0W60 kt994 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 12:0046.5N 19.0W60 kt992 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 18:0046.0N 20.0W55 kt994 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 00:0047.2N 19.8W50 kt996 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 06:0048.0N 19.0W45 kt998 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 12:0048.5N 18.0W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 18:0048.8N 17.5W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 00:0048.9N 17.0W35 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 06:0048.9N 16.2W30 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 12:0049.0N 15.3W30 kt1005 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 18:0049.0N 14.0W25 kt1009 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1997

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.