 Tropical Storm Olaf was an erratic and long @-@ lived tropical cyclone that brought heavy rainfall to regions of Mexico , which would be devastated by Hurricane Pauline a week later . The sixteenth named storm of the 1997 season , Olaf formed on September 26 off the southern coast of Mexico . It moved northward and quickly intensified , reaching peak winds of 70 mph ( 120 km / h ) before weakening and hitting Oaxaca as a tropical depression . In Mexico , El Salvador , and Guatemala , the system brought heavy rainfall , which killed 18 people and caused flooding and damage . It was originally thought that Olaf dissipated over Mexico , although its remnants continued westward for a week . It interacted with Hurricane Pauline , which caused Olaf to turn to the southeast and later to the north to strike Mexico again , finally dissipating on October 12 . 
