Hurricane History Map

Hurricane Ellen path, 1983

Eastern and central Pacific basin, 27 August 1983 to 10 September 1983. Its recorded track is shown on the map and selected for you.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

What the record says

Ellen was a hurricane in the Eastern and central Pacific basin that lasted about 14 days, from 27 August 1983 to 10 September 1983. Its peak was Category 4 (125 kt) on 6 September 1983, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 125 kt (144 mph, 232 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 925 hPa.

  • Category 4peak intensity
  • 125 ktpeak wind (144 mph)
  • 925 hPalowest pressure
  • 14 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (western Pacific). The regional forecast centre (RSMC Tokyo (Japan Meteorological Agency)) gave a peak of 110 kt on its own averaging convention (10-minute winds), so the two figures differ.

It has its own page because it reached category 4 or stronger.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

A landfall here is the first tropical position over land after time at sea, so it is within about six hours of the real event. The record shows up to 8.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.

Other notable storms of the 1983 Eastern and central Pacific season

Other notable storms near Philippines

  • Goni (2020)25 October 2020 to 6 November 2020, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 905 hPa
  • Haiyan (2013)2 November 2013 to 11 November 2013, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 895 hPa
  • Meranti (2016)8 September 2016 to 17 September 2016, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 890 hPa
  • Opal (1964)8 December 1964 to 18 December 1964, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 900 hPa
  • Sally (1964)3 September 1964 to 11 September 1964, peak Category 5 (170 kt), 895 hPa

The 1983 Eastern and central Pacific season · All notable storms

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