On 12 September 1997 Hurricane Linda became the strongest hurricane on record in the East Pacific basin. The GOES-9 and GOES-8 infrared images above show the well-defined warm eye surrounded by very cold eyewall cloud top temperatures (colder than -80 C). The storm intensity was estimated to be T7.5 to T8.0 on the Dvorak scale and a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 160 knots/82 ms-1 (gusting to 190 knots/98 ms-1). Minimum central pressure was estimated to be 900 hPa (26.58 inches of mercury).
GOES-9 and GOES-8 visible imagery below show a closer view of the eye, which was about 12 nautical miles in diameter at the time. The eye passed just to the southwest of Isla Socorro around 19:30 UT (Java animation).
