The 1997 season

Hurricane Felicia (1997)

Hurricane Felicia reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between July 14, 1997 and July 22, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 948 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Felicia, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
July 14, 1997 to July 22, 1997
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
948 mb (27.99 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 524 km (326 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.8
Fastest the center moved
24 kt (28 mph)
Identifier
EP081997

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 14, 12:009.7N 109.0W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jul 14, 18:0010.4N 110.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 00:0010.9N 111.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 06:0011.3N 112.0W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 12:0011.7N 112.5W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Jul 15, 18:0012.1N 113.0W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 00:0012.4N 113.7W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 06:0012.5N 114.5W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 12:0012.5N 115.1W50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 18:0012.6N 115.5W55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 00:0012.9N 116.0W60 kt988 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 06:0013.4N 116.9W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Jul 17, 12:0013.9N 117.9W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Jul 17, 18:0014.4N 119.0W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Jul 18, 00:0014.8N 120.1W65 kt985 mbHurricane
Jul 18, 06:0015.1N 121.3W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Jul 18, 12:0015.3N 122.5W95 kt968 mbHurricane
Jul 18, 18:0015.4N 123.9W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Jul 19, 00:0015.5N 125.3W110 kt956 mbHurricane
Jul 19, 06:0015.6N 126.7W115 kt951 mbHurricane
Jul 19, 12:0015.7N 128.1W115 kt948 mbHurricane
Jul 19, 18:0015.8N 129.5W115 kt951 mbHurricane
Jul 20, 00:0016.0N 131.0W110 kt954 mbHurricane
Jul 20, 06:0016.3N 132.5W105 kt957 mbHurricane
Jul 20, 12:0016.6N 134.1W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Jul 20, 18:0016.9N 135.6W95 kt965 mbHurricane
Jul 21, 00:0017.1N 137.2W90 kt972 mbHurricane
Jul 21, 06:0017.3N 138.9W70 kt980 mbHurricane
Jul 21, 12:0017.4N 140.8W55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:0017.5N 143.0W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 00:0017.6N 145.4W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 06:0017.6N 147.9W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 12:0017.7N 150.2W25 kt1005 mbTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific 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.