Hurricane Isidore (2002)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · September 14–27, 2002

Peak wind

127 mph

204 km/h · Sep 21

Peak category

Cat 3

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

934 mb

Landfalls

Yucatán, Mexico · Pinar del Río, Cuba

Lifetime

13.0 d

Sep 14 – Sep 27

Distance

4,013 mi

6,457 km

ACE

17.8

storm energy

TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.

01 · The story

What happened with Isidore

Hurricane Isidore (2002) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic season. It formed on September 14, 2002, 51 mi ESE of Rio Claro, Trinidad and Tobago, reached its peak of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 934 mb on September 21, 2002, and made landfall 3 times — first 14 mi S of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba on September 20, 2002 as a Category 1 hurricane (86 mph). Later landfalls: 14 mi N of Motul, Yucatán, Mexico on September 22, 2002 as a Category 3 hurricane (127 mph); 24 mi S of Galliano, Louisiana on September 26, 2002 as a tropical storm (63 mph). It rapidly intensified by 46 mph in 24 hours (to 104 mph on September 20, 2002). The storm lasted 13.0 days and travelled about 4,013 miles (6,457 km).

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

Maximum sustained wind (mph) — hover or drag to scrub the map

03 · Impact

Landfalls and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
September 20, 2002 · 21:00 UTC	14 mi S of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba	Cat 1 86 mph	964 mb
September 22, 2002 · 21:00 UTC	14 mi N of Motul, Yucatán, Mexico	Cat 3 127 mph	936 mb
September 26, 2002 · 06:00 UTC	24 mi S of Galliano, Louisiana	TS 63 mph	984 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Maturín, Venezuela	42 mi	Sep 15 · 02:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Cumaná, Venezuela	13 mi	Sep 15 · 06:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Barcelona, Venezuela	39 mi	Sep 15 · 07:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela	34 mi	Sep 15 · 07:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Caracas, Venezuela	59 mi	Sep 15 · 12:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Petare, Venezuela	57 mi	Sep 15 · 12:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico	61 mi	Sep 22 · 03:00 UTC	Cat 3 127 mph
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico	direct hit	Sep 24 · 06:00 UTC	TS 52 mph
Nashville, Tennessee	60 mi	Sep 27 · 07:00 UTC	TD 23 mph
Columbus, Ohio	53 mi	Sep 27 · 13:00 UTC	TD 23 mph

Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.

04 · Timeline

Every official fix 55 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Sep 14 18:00	TD	29 mph	1009 mb	10.0°N 60.5°W	51 mi ESE of Rio Claro, Trinidad and Tobago
Sep 15 00:00	TD	29 mph	1009 mb	10.2°N 62.4°W	27 mi SSW of Güiria, Venezuela
Sep 15 06:00	TD	29 mph	1009 mb	10.6°N 64.3°W	near Araya, Venezuela
Sep 15 12:00	TD	29 mph	1009 mb	11.2°N 66.4°W	51 mi N of Guatire, Venezuela
Sep 15 18:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	1009 mb	12.3°N 68.5°W	19 mi WNW of Kralendijk, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
Sep 16 00:00	TD low/wave	23 mph	1009 mb	14.2°N 70.5°W	117 mi NNW of Noord, Aruba
Sep 16 06:00	TD low/wave	23 mph	1008 mb	15.0°N 71.9°W	open ocean
Sep 16 12:00	TD low/wave	23 mph	1008 mb	15.5°N 73.2°W	open ocean
Sep 16 18:00	TD low/wave	23 mph	1008 mb	15.7°N 74.5°W	179 mi SSW of Les Cayes, Haiti
Sep 17 00:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	1008 mb	15.8°N 75.3°W	181 mi SSE of Kingston, Jamaica
Sep 17 06:00	TD low/wave	29 mph	1008 mb	15.8°N 76.1°W	159 mi SSE of Kingston, Jamaica
Sep 17 12:00	TD	35 mph	1008 mb	15.9°N 76.8°W	145 mi S of Kingston, Jamaica
Sep 17 18:00	TD	35 mph	1006 mb	16.3°N 77.4°W	115 mi S of May Pen, Jamaica
Sep 18 00:00	TD	35 mph	1006 mb	16.7°N 77.7°W	92 mi SSW of May Pen, Jamaica
Sep 18 06:00	TS	40 mph	1006 mb	17.1°N 78.1°W	76 mi SSW of Mandeville, Jamaica
Sep 18 12:00	TS	46 mph	1004 mb	17.7°N 78.5°W	41 mi SSW of Negril, Jamaica
Sep 18 18:00	TS	52 mph	1001 mb	18.7°N 78.6°W	34 mi NNW of Negril, Jamaica
Sep 19 00:00	TS	58 mph	998 mb	19.3°N 79.3°W	95 mi NW of Negril, Jamaica
Sep 19 06:00	TS	58 mph	990 mb	19.7°N 80.4°W	58 mi ENE of Further Ground, Cayman Islands
Sep 19 12:00	TS	69 mph	990 mb	19.9°N 80.9°W	43 mi NNE of Further Ground, Cayman Islands
Sep 19 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	983 mb	20.4°N 81.7°W	73 mi NNW of West Bay, Cayman Islands
Sep 20 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	979 mb	20.7°N 82.3°W	88 mi SSE of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
Sep 20 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	967 mb	21.1°N 83.0°W	56 mi SSW of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
Sep 20 12:00	Cat 2	98 mph	966 mb	21.5°N 83.5°W	52 mi WSW of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
Sep 20 18:00	Cat 1	86 mph	965 mb	21.8°N 84.0°W	28 mi SSE of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Sep 20 21:00	Cat 1 LANDFALL	86 mph	964 mb	22.0°N 84.1°W	14 mi S of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Sep 21 00:00	Cat 1	86 mph	964 mb	22.1°N 84.3°W	13 mi S of Mantua, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Sep 21 06:00	Cat 2	98 mph	964 mb	22.3°N 85.1°W	52 mi W of Mantua, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Sep 21 12:00	Cat 3	115 mph	955 mb	22.0°N 85.8°W	88 mi NE of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 21 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	946 mb	21.9°N 86.1°W	69 mi NE of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 22 00:00	Cat 3	127 mph	947 mb	22.1°N 86.5°W	68 mi NNE of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 22 06:00	Cat 3	127 mph	936 mb	22.0°N 87.4°W	67 mi NNW of Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sep 22 12:00	Cat 3	127 mph	934 mb	21.9°N 88.2°W	52 mi N of Tizimín, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 22 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	935 mb	21.6°N 88.9°W	43 mi NE of Motul, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 22 21:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	127 mph	936 mb	21.3°N 89.3°W	14 mi N of Motul, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 23 00:00	Cat 3	115 mph	950 mb	21.0°N 89.4°W	near Tixkokob, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 23 06:00	Cat 1	81 mph	952 mb	20.6°N 89.6°W	11 mi NE of Muna, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 23 12:00	TS	69 mph	960 mb	20.1°N 89.6°W	19 mi SW of Oxkutzkab, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 23 18:00	TS	58 mph	968 mb	20.3°N 89.4°W	near Oxkutzkab, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 24 00:00	TS	40 mph	980 mb	20.5°N 89.3°W	15 mi NNE of Oxkutzkab, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 24 06:00	TS	52 mph	985 mb	21.0°N 89.5°W	near Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 24 12:00	TS	58 mph	987 mb	21.7°N 89.7°W	29 mi N of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 24 18:00	TS	58 mph	988 mb	22.1°N 89.8°W	57 mi N of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 25 00:00	TS	58 mph	987 mb	23.0°N 89.7°W	119 mi N of Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico
Sep 25 06:00	TS	58 mph	987 mb	24.2°N 89.7°W	open ocean
Sep 25 12:00	TS	58 mph	990 mb	25.4°N 90.2°W	open ocean
Sep 25 18:00	TS	63 mph	988 mb	26.3°N 90.4°W	open ocean
Sep 26 00:00	TS	63 mph	989 mb	27.5°N 90.3°W	147 mi S of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 26 06:00	TS LANDFALL	63 mph	984 mb	29.1°N 90.3°W	43 mi SE of Houma, Louisiana
Sep 26 12:00	TS	63 mph	985 mb	30.0°N 89.9°W	11 mi ENE of New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 26 18:00	TS	46 mph	988 mb	32.2°N 89.8°W	12 mi ESE of Brandon, Mississippi
Sep 27 00:00	TD	23 mph	992 mb	33.0°N 89.0°W	33 mi SSW of Starkville, Mississippi
Sep 27 06:00	TD	23 mph	995 mb	35.0°N 86.5°W	19 mi NNE of Huntsville, Alabama
Sep 27 12:00	TD	23 mph	998 mb	39.1°N 82.9°W	17 mi SSE of Chillicothe, Ohio
Sep 27 18:00	TD extratropical	23 mph	999 mb	40.9°N 79.5°W	21 mi E of Butler, Pennsylvania

⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Isidore make landfall?

Isidore made landfall 3 times: 14 mi S of Guane, Pinar del Río, Cuba on September 20, 2002 at 21:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 86 mph winds; 14 mi N of Motul, Yucatán, Mexico on September 22, 2002 at 21:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 127 mph winds; 24 mi S of Galliano, Louisiana on September 26, 2002 at 06:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 63 mph winds.

What category was Isidore?

At its peak on September 21, 2002, Isidore was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a central pressure of 934 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 1 hurricane.

How long did Isidore last?

13.0 days, from September 14, 2002 to September 27, 2002, including 90 hours at hurricane strength (42 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 4,013 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Isidore?

The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.

Related storms

Keep exploring

Every storm named Isidore

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1984	Tropical Storm Isidore Atlantic	TS 58 mph	—	→
1990	Hurricane Isidore Atlantic	Cat 2 98 mph	—	→
1996	Hurricane Isidore Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
2002	Hurricane Isidore · this page Atlantic	Cat 3 127 mph	Yucatán, Mexico, Pinar del Río, Cuba

Names are recycled every six years unless a storm is so deadly or costly that the name is retired.

Strongest storms of 2002

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
2002	Hurricane Kenna Eastern Pacific	Cat 5 167 mph	Nayarit, Mexico	→
2002	Hurricane Elida Eastern Pacific	Cat 5 161 mph	—	→
2002	Hurricane Hernan Eastern Pacific	Cat 5 161 mph	—	→
2002	Hurricane Lili Atlantic	Cat 4 144 mph	Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, Pinar del Río, Cuba	→
2002	Hurricane Fausto Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 144 mph	—	→
2002	Hurricane Ele Central Pacific	Cat 3 127 mph	—	→
2002	Hurricane Alma Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
2002	Hurricane Douglas Eastern Pacific	Cat 2 104 mph	—	→

See every 2002 storm on one map →

Background reading: Hurricane Isidore on Wikipedia.

← Previous Atlantic stormTropical Storm Hanna (2002)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Kyle (2002)

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