The 2002 season

Hurricane Hernan (2002)

Hurricane Hernan reached Category 5 in the Eastern Pacific between August 30, 2002 and September 6, 2002, with a lowest pressure of 921 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Hernan, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2002 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 30, 2002 to September 6, 2002
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
921 mb (27.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 426 km (265 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
20.0
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
30 nmi (56 km, 35 mi)
Overall size
270 nmi (500 km, 311 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
13 kt (15 mph)
Identifier
EP102002

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 30, 06:0013.5N 103.1W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 30, 12:0013.9N 103.4W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0014.2N 104.0W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0014.7N 104.8W55 kt991 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0015.1N 105.8W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 12:0015.3N 106.9W85 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 31, 18:0015.7N 107.8W100 kt962 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 00:0016.5N 108.8W115 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0016.7N 110.1W130 kt931 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0017.2N 111.1W140 kt921 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0017.7N 112.2W140 kt921 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0017.9N 113.3W135 kt927 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 06:0018.2N 114.3W115 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 12:0018.4N 115.4W110 kt952 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 18:0018.6N 116.3W105 kt956 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 00:0018.7N 117.3W95 kt965 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 06:0018.8N 118.3W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 12:0018.9N 119.3W85 kt975 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 18:0019.2N 120.1W80 kt976 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 00:0019.5N 120.8W70 kt983 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 06:0020.2N 121.6W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 12:0020.7N 122.1W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0021.1N 122.8W50 kt997 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0021.5N 123.3W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0021.8N 123.7W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0022.3N 124.1W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 5, 18:0022.8N 124.4W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 00:0023.3N 124.4W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 06:0023.7N 124.5W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 12:0024.0N 124.6W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 6, 18:0024.5N 124.7W20 kt1009 mbLow

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 2002

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.