Hurricane Otis (2023)
Hurricane Otis reached Category 5 in the Eastern Pacific between October 21, 2023 and October 25, 2023, with a lowest pressure of 922 mb, and made landfall. It killed 52 people directly, by the National Hurricane Center’s count.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Otis, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2023 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- October 21, 2023 to October 25, 2023
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 145 kt (167 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 922 mb (27.23 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 7.4
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 60 nmi (111 km, 69 mi) from the center at its widest
- Hurricane-force wind reached
- 25 nmi (46 km, 29 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 5 nmi (9 km, 6 mi)
- Overall size
- 150 nmi (278 km, 173 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 175 kt (201 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 12 kt (14 mph)
- Identifier
- EP182023
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
National Hurricane Center
52 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.
Wikidata
350 deathsno damage figure
A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.
Landfall
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 06:45 | Acapulco de Juárez, Guerrero, Mexico, 6 km away | 16.8N 99.9W | 140 kt (161 mph) | 929 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 21, 00:00 | 9.3N 95.8W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Low |
| Oct 21, 06:00 | 9.6N 96.1W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Low |
| Oct 21, 12:00 | 9.7N 96.6W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Low |
| Oct 21, 18:00 | 9.5N 96.9W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Low |
| Oct 22, 00:00 | 9.5N 96.7W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Low |
| Oct 22, 06:00 | 9.6N 96.6W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Low |
| Oct 22, 12:00 | 9.8N 96.7W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 22, 18:00 | 10.2N 96.9W | 35 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 23, 00:00 | 10.8N 97.1W | 35 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 23, 06:00 | 11.4N 97.2W | 35 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 23, 12:00 | 11.9N 97.3W | 40 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 23, 18:00 | 12.6N 97.6W | 45 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 24, 00:00 | 13.3N 98.0W | 50 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 24, 06:00 | 13.8N 98.5W | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 24, 12:00 | 14.2N 98.9W | 65 kt | 990 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 24, 18:00 | 14.9N 99.4W | 100 kt | 971 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 25, 00:00 | 15.7N 99.6W | 130 kt | 938 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 25, 06:00 | 16.7N 99.8W | 145 kt | 924 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 25, 06:45 landfall | 16.8N 99.9W | 140 kt | 929 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 25, 12:00 | 17.7N 100.3W | 85 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 25, 18:00 | 18.6N 100.7W | 40 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
Other Eastern Pacific storms of 2023
- Hurricane AdrianEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane BeatrizEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane CalvinEastern Pacific · 2023
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane DoraEastern Pacific · 2023
- Tropical Storm EugeneEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane FernandaEastern Pacific · 2023
- Tropical Storm GregEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane HilaryEastern Pacific · 2023 · 3 deaths · $900 million
- Tropical Storm IrwinEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane JovaEastern Pacific · 2023
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 2023
- Tropical Storm KennethEastern Pacific · 2023
- Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 2023
- Hurricane LidiaEastern Pacific · 2023 · 3 deaths
- Tropical Storm MaxEastern Pacific · 2023 · 2 deaths
- Hurricane NormaEastern Pacific · 2023
- Tropical Storm PilarEastern Pacific · 2023 · 4 deaths
- Tropical Storm RamonEastern Pacific · 2023
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.