Track map & timeline · Eastern Pacific · September 20–23, 1978
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 (1978) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 1978 Eastern Pacific season. It formed on September 20, 1978, 14 mi E of Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico, reached its peak of 75 mph (120 km/h) on September 22, 1978, and never made landfall. The storm lasted 3.0 days and travelled about 473 miles (761 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico | 74 mi | Sep 20 · 00:00 UTC | TD 35 mph |
| Tuxtla, Chiapas, Mexico | 61 mi | Sep 23 · 00:00 UTC | TD 35 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 20 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 15.7°N 93.0°W | 14 mi E of Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico |
| Sep 20 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 15.0°N 94.0°W | 71 mi SW of Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico |
| Sep 20 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | — | 14.6°N 95.0°W | 110 mi S of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 20 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 14.9°N 95.2°W | 88 mi S of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 21 00:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 14.9°N 95.1°W | 88 mi S of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 21 06:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 14.7°N 95.1°W | 102 mi S of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 21 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | — | 14.3°N 95.1°W | 123 mi SE of Crucecita, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 21 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | — | 13.9°N 95.0°W | 150 mi SSE of Crucecita, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 22 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 14.0°N 94.8°W | 153 mi S of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 22 06:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 14.0°N 95.0°W | 144 mi SSE of Crucecita, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 22 12:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | — | 15.2°N 94.8°W | 72 mi SSE of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 22 18:00 | TS | 58 mph | — | 15.9°N 94.3°W | 28 mi SSW of Chahuites, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Sep 23 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | — | 16.5°N 94.0°W | 19 mi NNW of Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Olivia. Its closest approach to a major city was 61 miles from Tuxtla, Chiapas, Mexico.
At its peak on September 22, 1978, Olivia was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h).
3.0 days, from September 20, 1978 to September 23, 1978, including 18 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 473 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.
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