Track map, landfall & timeline · Eastern Pacific · September 11 – October 1, 1971
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
Hurricane Olivia (1971) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1971 Eastern Pacific season. It formed on September 11, 1971, reached its peak of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 948 mb on September 26, 1971, and made landfall 43 mi ESE of Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua on September 19, 1971 as a Category 1 hurricane (75 mph). The storm lasted 19.3 days and travelled about 5,117 miles (8,234 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| Landfall (UTC) | Where | Strength | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 19, 1971 · 09:00 UTC | 43 mi ESE of Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua | Cat 1 75 mph | — |
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumaná, Venezuela | 70 mi | Sep 15 · 08:00 UTC | TD 29 mph |
| Managua, Nicaragua | 25 mi | Sep 20 · 04:00 UTC | TD 35 mph |
| San Salvador, El Salvador | 70 mi | Sep 21 · 06:00 UTC | TS 58 mph |
| Soyapango, El Salvador | 72 mi | Sep 21 · 06:00 UTC | TS 58 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
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1009 mb | 11.0°N 48.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 11.3°N 50.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 11.7°N 52.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1009 mb | 12.1°N 53.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 12 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.4°N 55.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.5°N 56.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 13 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.5°N 57.8°W | 130 mi ESE of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Sep 13 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.4°N 58.9°W | 69 mi SE of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Sep 13 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.3°N 59.7°W | 56 mi S of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Sep 14 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.2°N 60.3°W | 78 mi SW of Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Sep 14 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 12.1°N 60.8°W | 64 mi N of Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Sep 14 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1007 mb | 12.0°N 61.4°W | 72 mi NW of Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Sep 14 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1007 mb | 11.9°N 62.1°W | 89 mi NNW of Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Sep 15 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 11.7°N 63.0°W | 74 mi NNE of Carúpano, Venezuela |
| Sep 15 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 11.5°N 64.0°W | 29 mi N of Juan Griego, Venezuela |
| Sep 15 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 11.4°N 65.0°W | 70 mi WNW of Punta de Piedras, Venezuela |
| Sep 15 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 11.5°N 66.2°W | 75 mi NNE of Guatire, Venezuela |
| Sep 16 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 11.8°N 67.5°W | 57 mi ESE of Kralendijk, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba |
| Sep 16 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 12.2°N 68.8°W | near Willemstad, Curacao |
| Sep 16 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 12.5°N 70.3°W | 18 mi W of Oranjestad, Aruba |
| Sep 16 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 12.6°N 71.7°W | 92 mi NNE of Maicao, Colombia |
| Sep 17 00:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 12.6°N 73.1°W | 74 mi N of Riohacha, Colombia |
| Sep 17 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 12.5°N 74.6°W | 91 mi NNW of Santa Marta, Colombia |
| Sep 17 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1005 mb | 12.3°N 76.3°W | 138 mi NW of Barranquilla, Colombia |
| Sep 17 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1004 mb | 12.1°N 77.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 18 00:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1004 mb | 11.9°N 79.3°W | 169 mi ESE of San Andrés, Colombia |
| Sep 18 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1002 mb | 11.7°N 80.5°W | 101 mi SE of San Andrés, Colombia |
| Sep 18 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | 993 mb | 11.5°N 81.5°W | 76 mi S of San Andrés, Colombia |
| Sep 18 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | 989 mb | 11.4°N 82.3°W | 91 mi SSW of San Andrés, Colombia |
| Sep 19 00:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 11.4°N 82.9°W | 72 mi SE of Bluefields, Nicaragua |
| Sep 19 06:00 | TS | 69 mph | 992 mb | 11.4°N 83.6°W | 44 mi SSE of Bluefields, Nicaragua |
| Sep 19 09:00 | Cat 1 LANDFALL | 75 mph | — | 11.4°N 83.9°W | 43 mi ESE of Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua |
| Sep 19 12:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 11.5°N 84.3°W | 17 mi SE of Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua |
| Sep 19 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 11.6°N 85.0°W | 28 mi SSE of Acoyapa, Nicaragua |
| Sep 20 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 11.7°N 85.8°W | 19 mi SSE of Granada, Nicaragua |
| Sep 20 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 11.8°N 86.5°W | near San Rafael del Sur, Nicaragua |
| Sep 20 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 12.0°N 87.2°W | 37 mi SW of León, Nicaragua |
| Sep 20 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | — | 12.3°N 87.9°W | 51 mi WSW of Corinto, Nicaragua |
| Sep 21 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 12.5°N 88.6°W | 54 mi S of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador |
| Sep 21 06:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 12.7°N 89.4°W | 55 mi S of La Libertad, El Salvador |
| Sep 21 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 12.8°N 90.2°W | 60 mi SSW of Acajutla, El Salvador |
| Sep 21 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 13.0°N 90.9°W | 64 mi S of Puerto San José, Guatemala |
| Sep 22 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 990 mb | 13.2°N 91.6°W | 71 mi SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala |
| Sep 22 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 13.4°N 92.3°W | 79 mi S of Brisas Barra de Suchiate, Chiapas, Mexico |
| Sep 22 12:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 13.5°N 93.1°W | 93 mi SW of Brisas Barra de Suchiate, Chiapas, Mexico |
| Sep 22 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | — | 13.6°N 94.1°W | 141 mi WSW of Brisas Barra de Suchiate, Chiapas, Mexico |
| Sep 23 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 983 mb | 13.6°N 95.2°W | 162 mi SSE of Crucecita, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 23 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 13.6°N 96.2°W | 149 mi S of San Pedro Pochutla, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 23 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 981 mb | 13.6°N 97.1°W | 154 mi SSW of San Pedro Pochutla, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 23 18:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 13.6°N 97.9°W | 166 mi SSW of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 24 00:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 13.7°N 98.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 13.9°N 100.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | — | 14.2°N 101.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 14.6°N 102.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 974 mb | 15.1°N 104.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 06:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | — | 15.8°N 105.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 12:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | — | 16.5°N 106.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 18:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 17.3°N 107.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 00:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 18.1°N 108.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 06:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 18.8°N 108.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 12:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | — | 19.3°N 109.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 18:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | 948 mb | 19.6°N 109.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 00:00 | Cat 3 | 127 mph | 950 mb | 19.8°N 110.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | — | 19.9°N 110.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 12:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | — | 19.9°N 111.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 963 mb | 19.9°N 112.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | — | 19.9°N 112.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 20.1°N 113.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 20.5°N 113.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 21.2°N 113.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 00:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 22.0°N 114.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 23.0°N 114.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1001 mb | 23.9°N 114.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 18:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 24.8°N 114.2°W | 160 mi W of Ciudad Constitución, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Sep 30 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1002 mb | 25.6°N 114.0°W | 151 mi WNW of Ciudad Constitución, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Sep 30 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 26.4°N 113.7°W | 110 mi SW of Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Sep 30 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 27.2°N 113.5°W | 63 mi SSE of Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Sep 30 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 27.8°N 113.2°W | 53 mi ESE of Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Oct 1 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 28.0°N 113.0°W | 64 mi NW of Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
Olivia made landfall once: 43 mi ESE of Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua on September 19, 1971 at 09:00 UTC, as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds.
At its peak on September 26, 1971, Olivia was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a central pressure of 948 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 1 hurricane.
19.3 days, from September 11, 1971 to October 1, 1971, including 165 hours at hurricane strength (48 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,117 miles.
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.
This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.
This archive is our own work, built from openly available data — the NOAA best-track records, the replay engine, the wind-field rendering and the map tiles served from our own servers in the European Union. If your business generates data — measurements, machines, orders, customers — we are happy to turn it into a clear, interactive interface.
But this is not all we build:
Or anything else that can be programmed — just get in touch.
See our work → or write: info@digitaldynamics.hu