Hurricane Pamela (2021)

Hurricane Pamela reached Category 1 in the Eastern Pacific between October 10, 2021 and October 13, 2021, with a lowest pressure of 987 mb, and made landfall. It killed 2 people directly, by the National Hurricane Center’s count.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Pamela, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2021 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: October 10, 2021 to October 13, 2021
Peak strength: Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure: 987 mb (29.15 inHg)
Landfall: Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy: 4.2
Tropical-storm-force wind reached: 120 nmi (222 km, 138 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached: 30 nmi (56 km, 35 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak: 15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
Overall size: 200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track: 85 kt (98 mph)
Fastest the center moved: 27 kt (31 mph)
Identifier: EP162021

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

National Hurricane Center

2 direct deathsnone recorded in the United States

The season table in NHC’s report archive, final report. Direct deaths are those caused by the storm’s own wind, water or surge, anywhere in the world.

NOAA Storm Events

2 deaths (2 direct, 0 indirect)$75,000

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.

Landfall

Time (UTC)	Where	Position	Wind	Pressure
Oct 13, 12:30	La Cruz, Sinaloa, Mexico, 31 km away	23.7N 106.7W	65 kt (75 mph)	989 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.

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: 2 (2 direct, 0 indirect)
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $75,000
Crop damage: none recorded
Events recorded: 24 in 2 reports from 1 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine area	Deaths	Injuries	Damage	Events
Texas	2	0	$75,000	24

What was recorded

22 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind.

Wind reports

The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.

Wind	How	Where	State	Time (UTC)
56 kt (64 mph)	Estimated	6.94 N of VANDERPOOL	Texas	Oct 13, 22:25
50 kt (58 mph)	Measured	2 ESE of GAIL	Texas	Oct 13, 09:06

What forecast offices wrote

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding. There were several high water rescues in La Grange and Hwy 77 and Hwy 71 were both closed due to flooding. Rainfall totals around La Grange were as high as 8.65 inches.
Fayette, Texas · Flash Flood · Oct 14, 12:30 UTC

Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding. There were multiple vehicle rescues across Guadalupe County, multiple roads were flooded, and many creeks were going out of their banks. Up to 7.53 inches of rain fell near Seguin.
Guadalupe, Texas · Flash Flood · Oct 14, 12:43 UTC

Track

Time (UTC)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Oct 10, 06:00	14.1N 102.4W	30 kt	1007 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 10, 12:00	14.6N 103.8W	35 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 18:00	15.2N 105.2W	40 kt	1004 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 00:00	15.7N 106.3W	45 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 06:00	16.2N 107.3W	45 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 12:00	16.6N 107.9W	50 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 18:00	17.0N 108.4W	55 kt	995 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 12, 00:00	17.6N 108.8W	60 kt	991 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 12, 06:00	18.6N 109.1W	65 kt	988 mb	Hurricane
Oct 12, 12:00	19.6N 109.3W	65 kt	987 mb	Hurricane
Oct 12, 18:00	20.6N 109.3W	60 kt	989 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 13, 00:00	21.5N 108.9W	60 kt	989 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 13, 06:00	22.3N 108.2W	65 kt	987 mb	Hurricane
Oct 13, 12:00	23.6N 106.8W	65 kt	988 mb	Hurricane
Oct 13, 12:30 landfall	23.7N 106.7W	65 kt	989 mb	Hurricane
Oct 13, 18:00	25.1N 104.8W	40 kt	999 mb	Tropical storm

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 2021

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.