1997 Eastern Pacific hurricane season
Hurricane Oliwa 1997
Oliwa crossed the International Date Line in 1997 and strengthened into a powerful typhoon in the western Pacific. Its long westward route ended with a turn toward Japan and a much weaker passage over land.
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161 mph
Sep 10, 1997 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
From the central to the western Pacific
The archive begins near 12°N, 167°W on August 28. Oliwa moved west at tropical-depression strength, then crossed the Date Line as a tropical storm. It continued west-northwest through the waters north of the Marshall Islands before intensifying farther west.
Category 5 strength over open water
Oliwa reached maximum one-minute winds of 140 kt on September 9, equivalent to Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. The minimum recorded central pressure was 915 hPa. During its strongest phase, the center moved west near 19°N, well south of Japan's main islands.
Turning north toward Japan
The cyclone weakened as it curved northwest and then north near 130°E. The track reached southern Kyushu with winds around 70 kt, well below the offshore peak, before continuing northeast across Japan. Later positions extend over the North Pacific, with the archived route ending on September 19.
Further reading
NOAA IBTrACS v04r01 historical track archive
Official report (PDF) — National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report.
QUICK ANSWERS
Oliwa in brief
What was Hurricane Oliwa's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 9, 1997, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Hurricane Oliwa?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 9, 1997, 06:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Hurricane Oliwa's lowest pressure?
915 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 10, 1997, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Hurricane Oliwa occur?
The archived track runs from Aug 28, 1997, 06:00 AM UTC to Sep 19, 1997, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Aug 28, 1997, 06:00 AM UTC to Sep 16, 1997, 06:00 PM UTC.
Where did Hurricane Oliwa form?
In the Eastern Pacific basin, in the 1997 season. Its first archived position is 11.8°N, 166.7°W on Aug 28, 1997, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Hurricane Oliwa make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 3 recorded positions; the strongest is 82 mph on Sep 15, 1997, 11:00 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology