It paralleled the Mexican coastline a short distance offshore before weakening and making landfall near Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca, on October 9, and dissipated the next day.

Hurricane Pauline produced torrential rainfall along the Mexican coastline, peaking at 32.62 inches (829 mm) in Puente Jula.

Intense flooding and mudslides in some of the poorest areas of Mexico killed between 230 and 500 people, making it one of the deadliest Eastern Pacific storms in recorded history.

[1] On October 5, after a low-level circulation centre and an area of deep atmospheric convection had persisted on visible satellite imagery, the United States National Hurricane Center initiated advisories on the wave and designated it as Tropical Depression Eighteen-E.[3] At this time the system was located about 290 mi (465 km) to the southeast of Puerto Ángel, Mexico, and had started to move eastwards, as a result of a trough of low pressure over central America that had disrupted the normal steering currents.

A strong high pressure system eroded the trough over southeastern Mexico, which turned Pauline to the northeast.

An eye feature developed late on October 6, and early the next day Pauline intensified into a hurricane about 265 miles (426 km) southeast of Salina Cruz after turning to the north and northwest.

[4] On October 10, the NHC issued their final advisory on the system after the first visible satellite imagery of the day, showed that Pauline had dissipated over Jalisco and no longer had a well-defined low-level circulation.

On October 7, about 41 hours before landfall, the government of Mexico issued a hurricane warning from Tapachula in Chiapas to Punta Maldonado in Guerrero.

Shortly after Pauline made landfall, the warning was extended northwestward to Manzanillo, Colima, and later to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

Pauline's turn to the west-northwest near landfall was unexpected, resulting in hurricane conditions with only a few hours notice in some areas.

[9] Few surface observations were taken during the passage of the hurricane, though officials reported that southern Mexico experienced the brunt of the storm.

[17] Ultimately, media reports indicated a death toll of at least 230 people, and the Mexican Red Cross estimated 400 dead[4] and at least 1,900 missing.

The flooding damaged 12 bridges,[15] of which two were destroyed,[45] and cut off some areas of electricity, drinking water, and telecommunications for several days.

[46] Striking the week after Tropical Storm Olaf, previously wet grounds combined with heavy rainfall from Pauline resulted in severe mudslides and flash flooding in shanty towns around Acapulco Bay.

[17] Even though the government was blamed for lack of warnings and water shortages, Ernesto Zedillo, the president of Mexico at that time, cut his vacation in Europe short to respond to the catastrophe.

The president promised to seek charges and decided to close aid centers in favor of opening soup kitchens.

[50] Initially, authorities around Acapulco gave preference to clean up tourist areas, which resulted in the scenic highway from the hotels to the airport being quickly fixed.

Tourism greatly decreased following the hurricane, causing some hotels to charge 40 percent less than normal in an attempt to bring people back.

[18] The Adventist Development and Relief Agency organized about 7 tons of food and clothing, and sent a bus of 40 people to help isolated villages in southern Mexico.

Helicopters were initially sent to the remote areas, though severe fog and heavy rainfall after the hurricane grounded the operations.

[48] The floodwaters from the hurricane combined with raw sewage in many poor areas of southwestern Mexico, leading to a widespread threat for a spread of tropical diseases.

As a result, government health workers opened vaccination centers in several cities along the Guerrero and Oaxaca coasts.

Health workers also stated mosquitos possessing malaria and dengue fever were likely to breed in large areas of leftover water.

[57] Army soldiers distributed chlorine tablets to disinfect water pools and wheelbarrows to remove rotting mud and sewage from their damaged homes.

Two C-130 Hercules planes and twenty helicopters airlifted food and water to smaller villages south of Acapulco that were stranded for nearly a week after the hurricane.

[50] Relief efforts in Oaxaca were hampered when Hurricane Rick brought over 10 in (250 mm) of additional rain to the region one month later, causing more flash flooding and mudslides.

[58] Because of the high death tolls and the extent of damage in Mexico, the name Pauline was retired following the season by the World Meteorological Organization and will never again be used for a Pacific hurricane.