The 1997 season

Hurricane Oliwa (1997)

Hurricane Oliwa reached Category 5 in the Eastern Pacific between August 28, 1997 and September 19, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Oliwa, 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
Eastern Pacific
Dates
August 28, 1997 to September 19, 1997
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
43.2
Fastest the center moved
43 kt (49 mph)
Identifier
CP021997

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA Storm Events

0 deaths (0 direct, 0 indirect)$125,000

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
$75,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Events recorded
1 in 1 reports from 1 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine areaDeathsInjuriesDamageEvents
Guam00$125,0001

What was recorded

1 hurricane (typhoon).

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 28, 06:0011.8N 166.7W15 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 12:0011.8N 167.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 28, 18:0011.8N 167.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 00:0011.8N 168.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 06:0011.8N 168.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 12:0011.8N 169.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 29, 18:0011.9N 169.3W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 30, 00:0012.1N 169.5W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 30, 06:0012.3N 170.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 30, 12:0012.4N 170.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 30, 18:0012.4N 171.3W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 31, 00:0012.5N 172.0W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 31, 06:0012.6N 172.6W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 31, 12:0012.7N 173.1W25 ktTropical depression
Aug 31, 18:0012.7N 173.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 00:0012.7N 174.1W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 06:0012.7N 174.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 12:0012.7N 175.2W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 1, 18:0012.7N 175.8W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 2, 00:0012.8N 176.4W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 2, 06:0013.0N 176.9W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 2, 12:0013.1N 177.3W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 2, 18:0013.2N 177.7W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 3, 00:0013.3N 178.2W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0013.3N 178.7W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0013.2N 179.2W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0013.1N 179.8W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0013.1N 179.4E35 ktTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0013.1N 178.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0013.1N 177.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0013.3N 175.5E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0013.7N 174.0E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0014.2N 172.9E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0014.6N 172.1E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0015.0N 171.3E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0015.5N 170.4E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0016.0N 169.9E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0016.4N 167.8E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0016.7N 166.5E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0017.0N 165.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0017.3N 164.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0017.5N 163.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0017.7N 162.6E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0017.9N 161.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0018.0N 161.0E65 kt975 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 12:0018.1N 159.9E65 kt975 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 18:0018.1N 158.7E75 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 00:0018.1N 157.5E90 kt965 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 06:0018.1N 156.2E105 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0018.2N 154.9E125 kt945 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0018.4N 153.5E140 kt935 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0018.6N 152.1E140 kt925 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 06:0018.9N 150.8E140 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 12:0019.1N 149.4E140 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 18:0019.3N 148.0E140 kt915 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 00:0019.5N 146.6E140 kt915 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 06:0019.9N 145.3E140 kt915 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 12:0020.3N 144.0E135 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 11, 18:0020.8N 142.7E130 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 00:0021.3N 141.4E125 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 06:0021.9N 140.1E125 kt920 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 12:0022.5N 138.7E120 kt925 mbHurricane
Sep 12, 18:0023.2N 137.4E115 kt930 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 00:0024.0N 136.1E105 kt935 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 06:0024.9N 134.9E105 kt940 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 12:0025.7N 133.8E100 kt945 mbHurricane
Sep 13, 18:0026.5N 132.6E100 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 00:0027.3N 131.5E95 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 06:0027.9N 130.6E90 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 12:0028.3N 130.0E90 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 14, 18:0028.6N 129.7E85 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 00:0028.9N 129.5E85 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 06:0029.3N 129.5E85 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 12:0029.9N 129.7E80 kt960 mbHurricane
Sep 15, 18:0030.6N 130.1E75 kt960 mbHurricane
Sep 16, 00:0031.6N 130.7E70 kt965 mbHurricane
Sep 16, 06:0033.0N 131.7E65 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 16, 12:0034.1N 133.1E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0035.1N 134.6E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0036.2N 136.2E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0037.7N 138.4E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 17, 12:0042.0N 141.6E1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 18:0043.3N 145.8E1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 00:0045.4N 150.3E1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 06:0046.0N 154.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 12:0046.8N 157.5E1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 18:0047.6N 163.3E1010 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 00:0047.3N 168.9E1012 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 06:0047.2N 174.7E1012 mbExtratropical
Sep 19, 12:0047.1N 180.4EExtratropical

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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.