The 1998 season

Hurricane Estelle (1998)

Hurricane Estelle reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between July 28, 1998 and August 8, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 948 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Estelle, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 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 28, 1998 to August 8, 1998
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
948 mb (27.99 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 213 km (132 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.6
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
EP061998

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 28, 18:0013.9N 97.5W20 ktNot reported
Jul 29, 00:0014.0N 98.1W20 ktNot reported
Jul 29, 06:0014.3N 99.0W20 ktNot reported
Jul 29, 12:0014.4N 99.9W25 ktNot reported
Jul 29, 18:0014.6N 100.9W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jul 30, 00:0014.6N 102.0W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jul 30, 06:0014.7N 103.0W35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 12:0014.7N 103.9W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0014.7N 104.8W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 00:0014.9N 105.8W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 06:0015.1N 107.1W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Jul 31, 12:0015.3N 108.4W70 kt983 mbHurricane
Jul 31, 18:0015.5N 109.6W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 00:0015.7N 110.8W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 06:0015.8N 112.1W80 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 12:0015.9N 113.5W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 1, 18:0016.1N 115.0W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Aug 2, 00:0016.4N 116.3W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Aug 2, 06:0016.8N 117.5W115 kt948 mbHurricane
Aug 2, 12:0017.2N 118.6W110 kt954 mbHurricane
Aug 2, 18:0017.7N 119.8W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Aug 3, 00:0018.1N 121.1W95 kt965 mbHurricane
Aug 3, 06:0018.6N 122.2W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 3, 12:0018.9N 123.5W80 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 3, 18:0019.1N 125.0W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Aug 4, 00:0018.8N 126.5W70 kt983 mbHurricane
Aug 4, 06:0018.6N 127.8W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0018.5N 128.9W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0018.6N 129.8W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0018.7N 130.8W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0018.9N 132.0W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0019.4N 133.3W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 5, 18:0019.6N 134.6W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 6, 00:0019.8N 136.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 6, 06:0020.1N 137.5W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 6, 12:0020.4N 139.0W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 6, 18:0020.6N 140.3W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 7, 00:0020.8N 141.7W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 7, 06:0021.0N 142.9W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 7, 12:0021.3N 144.0W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 7, 18:0021.6N 144.9W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 8, 00:0021.9N 145.7W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 8, 06:0022.2N 146.6W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 8, 12:0022.5N 147.6W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 8, 18:0022.7N 148.7W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1998

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.