Hurricane Guillermo (1997)

Basin

Eastern Pacific

Dates

July 30, 1997 to August 24, 1997

Peak strength

Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)

Lowest pressure

919 mb (27.14 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 417 km (259 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

40.0

Fastest the center moved

20 kt (23 mph)

Identifier

EP091997

The sources count different things and are not added together.

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

Deaths

1 (1 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

3

Property damage

none recorded

Crop damage

none recorded

Events recorded

5 in 2 reports from 1 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

4 high surf, 1 rip current.

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Surf whipped up by Hurricane Guillermo pounded beaches in Orange County with waves from 6 to 12 feet high. Hundreds of people were rescued, but rip currents were blamed for three injuries and one death. On the fifth, a 19 year old man was swept away about a mile north of the Huntington Beach Pier. His body was recovered several days later. On the sixth, a teenage boy and girl were pummelled on a beach in Corona Del Mar. Another 18 year old was pulled ashore and sent to the hospital with neck injuries. In Newport Beach, lifeguards made nearly 300 rescues on the fifth and sixth alone.

Orange, California · Rip Current · Aug 5, 14:00 UTC

• Tropical Storm AndresEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm45 kt · 998 mb
• Tropical Storm BlancaEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm40 kt · 1002 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Depression30 kt
• Tropical Storm CarlosEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm45 kt · 996 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Depression30 kt
• Hurricane DoloresEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 180 kt · 975 mb
• Hurricane EnriqueEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 3100 kt · 960 mb
• Hurricane FeliciaEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 4115 kt · 948 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm HildaEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm45 kt · 1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Depression30 kt
• Tropical Storm IgnacioEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm35 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane JimenaEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 4120 kt · 942 mb
• Hurricane OliwaEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 5140 kt · 915 mb
• Tropical Storm KevinEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm50 kt · 994 mb
• Hurricane LindaEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 5160 kt · 902 mb
• Tropical Storm MartyEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm40 kt · 1002 mb
• Hurricane NoraEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 4115 kt · 950 mb
• Tropical Storm EllaEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm40 kt
• Tropical Storm OlafEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm60 kt · 989 mb
• Hurricane PaulineEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 4115 kt · 948 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Depression25 kt
• Unnamed tropical stormEastern Pacific · 1997Tropical Storm35 kt
• Hurricane RickEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 285 kt · 973 mb
• Hurricane PakaEastern Pacific · 1997Cat 5160 kt · 920 mb

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.

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.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Guillermo