Hurricane Pauline

Category 4 Pacific hurricane in 1997
Hurricane Pauline
Hurricane Pauline at peak intensity nearing landfall in Mexico on October 8
Meteorological history
FormedOctober 5, 1997
DissipatedOctober 10, 1997
Category 4 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds130 mph (215 km/h)
Lowest pressure948 mbar (hPa); 27.99 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities230–500 confirmed
Damage$448 million (1997 USD)
Areas affectedSouthwestern Guerrero, Oaxaca
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Part of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Pauline was one of the deadliest Pacific hurricanes to make landfall in Mexico. The sixteenth tropical storm, eighth hurricane, and seventh major hurricane of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season, Pauline developed out of a tropical wave from Africa on September 16, 1997, moving across South America and into the Pacific Ocean. On October 5, the depression intensified into a tropical storm early the next day and by October 7, Pauline had reached hurricane intensity. It initially moved eastward, then turned northwestward and quickly strengthened to reach peak winds of 135 mph (217 km/h). It paralleled the Mexican coastline a short distance offshore before weakening and making landfall near Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca, on October 9, and dissipated the next day.

Hurricane Pauline produced torrential rainfall along the Mexican coastline, peaking at 32.62 inches (829 mm) in Puente Jula. Intense flooding and mudslides in some of the poorest areas of Mexico killed between 230 and 500 people, making it one of the deadliest Eastern Pacific storms in recorded history. The passage of the hurricane destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses, leaving around 300,000 people homeless and causing $447.8 million in damage (1997 USD).

Meteorological history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
circle Tropical cyclone
square Subtropical cyclone
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression