Hurricane Olaf (2003)
Hurricane Olaf reached Category 1 in the Eastern Pacific between October 3, 2003 and October 8, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 987 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Olaf. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- October 3, 2003 to October 8, 2003
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 987 mb (29.15 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 4.0
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 90 nmi (167 km, 104 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
- Overall size
- 180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Fastest the center moved
- 10 kt (12 mph)
- Identifier
- EP152003
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Landfall
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 08:00 | Cihuatlán, Jalisco, Mexico, 5 km away | 19.2N 104.6W | 50 kt (58 mph) | 997 mb |
Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 06:00 | 11.7N 98.4W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 3, 12:00 | 12.1N 98.9W | 40 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 3, 18:00 | 12.4N 99.5W | 50 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 00:00 | 13.1N 100.0W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 06:00 | 13.8N 100.6W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 12:00 | 14.5N 101.3W | 50 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 18:00 | 15.0N 102.1W | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 00:00 | 15.5N 102.9W | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 06:00 | 15.9N 103.6W | 55 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 12:00 | 16.5N 104.2W | 65 kt | 987 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 5, 18:00 | 17.1N 104.8W | 55 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 6, 00:00 | 17.4N 105.0W | 50 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 6, 06:00 | 17.5N 104.9W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 6, 12:00 | 17.4N 104.5W | 35 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 6, 18:00 | 17.9N 104.4W | 40 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 7, 00:00 | 18.4N 104.5W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 7, 06:00 | 19.0N 104.6W | 50 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 7, 08:00 landfall | 19.2N 104.6W | 50 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 7, 12:00 | 19.6N 104.6W | 40 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 7, 18:00 | 20.3N 104.5W | 30 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 8, 00:00 | 20.8N 103.8W | 25 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
Other Eastern Pacific storms of 2003
- Tropical Storm YanyanEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm AndresEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm BlancaEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm CarlosEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm DoloresEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm EnriqueEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm FeliciaEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm GuillermoEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm HildaEastern Pacific · 2003
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 2003
- Hurricane IgnacioEastern Pacific · 2003
- Hurricane JimenaEastern Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm KevinEastern Pacific · 2003
- Hurricane LindaEastern Pacific · 2003
- Hurricane MartyEastern Pacific · 2003
- Hurricane NoraEastern Pacific · 2003
- Hurricane PatriciaEastern Pacific · 2003
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.