Track map & timeline · Eastern Pacific · September 26 – October 3, 1968
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 Pauline (1968) was a Category 1 hurricane of the 1968 Eastern Pacific season. It formed on September 26, 1968, 223 mi SSW of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, reached its peak of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 1008 mb on September 30, 1968, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 34 mph in 24 hours (to 86 mph on September 30, 1968). The storm lasted 7.5 days and travelled about 1,635 miles (2,631 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico | direct hit | Oct 3 · 04:00 UTC | TS 52 mph |
| Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico | 68 mi | Oct 3 · 09:00 UTC | TS 40 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 26 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.0°N 98.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.1°N 98.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.1°N 99.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.1°N 99.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.2°N 99.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.2°N 99.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.3°N 99.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.3°N 100.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.4°N 100.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.5°N 100.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 13.8°N 101.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 14.1°N 101.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1008 mb | 14.4°N 102.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 14.6°N 103.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 14.9°N 103.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 15.1°N 104.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 15.4°N 104.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 15.9°N 105.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 12:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 16.7°N 106.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 17.7°N 106.8°W | 181 mi SW of Cihuatlán, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Oct 1 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 18.6°N 107.6°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 19.4°N 108.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 20.1°N 109.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 18:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 20.7°N 109.9°W | 151 mi S of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Oct 2 00:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 21.5°N 110.8°W | 112 mi SSW of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Oct 2 06:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 22.7°N 111.3°W | 89 mi W of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Oct 2 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | — | 24.1°N 111.2°W | 56 mi W of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Oct 2 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 25.3°N 110.7°W | 63 mi ENE of Ciudad Constitución, Baja California Sur, Mexico |
| Oct 3 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 26.6°N 110.1°W | 32 mi WSW of Huatabampo, Sonora, Mexico |
| Oct 3 06:00 | TS | 52 mph | — | 28.1°N 109.9°W | 36 mi N of Esperanza, Sonora, Mexico |
| Oct 3 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | — | 29.9°N 109.8°W | 33 mi SSW of Nacozari de García, Sonora, Mexico |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Pauline. Its closest approach to a major city was 8 miles from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico.
At its peak on September 30, 1968, Pauline was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 86 mph (139 km/h) and a central pressure of 1008 mb.
7.5 days, from September 26, 1968 to October 3, 1968, including 48 hours at hurricane strength. It travelled about 1,635 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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