Hurricane Lester (1992)
Hurricane Lester was the first Pacific tropical cyclone to enter the United States as a tropical storm since 1967. The fourteenth named storm and eighth hurricane of the 1992 Pacific hurricane season, Lester formed on August 20 from a tropical wave southwest of Mexico. The tropical storm moved generally northwestward while steadily intensifying. After turning to the north, approaching the Mexican coast, Lester attained hurricane status. The hurricane reached peak winds of before making landfall on west-central Baja California. The system weakened while moving across the peninsula and then over northwestern Mexico. Not long after entering Arizona, Lester weakened to a tropical depression, and degenerated into an extratropical low on August 24, 1992, over New Mexico. The storm's remnants later merged with the remnants of Hurricane Andrew and another frontal system on August 29.
In Mexico, the hurricane resulted in $3 million in damage. It also left 5,000 people homeless, and was responsible for three fatalities. The remnants of Lester also produced moderate rainfall and minor flooding across southern California, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, as well as rare August snow in the Rocky Mountains.
Meteorological history
The origins of Hurricane Lester can be traced back to a tropical wave that moved off the coast of western Africa on August 7. Over the next week, the wave remained rather obscure as it moved across the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean before it appeared to split into two as it approached Cuba during August 16. The northern half of the wave dissipated over Cuba, while the southern half passed over Central America and moved into the Pacific Ocean on August 16. After the wave had moved into the Pacific, atmospheric convection increased over the system and it became better organized over the next few days. On August 20, the United States National Hurricane Center stated that the system had probably developed into a depression, initiated advisories and designated the system as Tropical Depression Fourteen-E.The depression gradually tracked northwestward at. Although the center of the depression was initially uncertain, it slowly strengthened and steadily organized. The depression attained tropical storm status late on August 20, upon which the storm was named Lester. The cyclone continued to the northwest, and passed directly over Socorro Island on August 21. By early the next day, an eastward moving trough weakened the ridge to its north, resulting in a to turn to the north. Around this time, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center predicted the storm would not strengthen to hurricane intensity before making landfall. Despite this, Lester intensified into a hurricane late on August 22 while located about west of [La Paz, Baja California peninsula|Baja California Sur|La Paz] in Baja California Sur.
The hurricane continued to organize and banding-type eye soon formed. Early on August 23 it attained peak winds of with a minimum central pressure of. Lester weakened steadily as the storm turned to the northeast, and made landfall as a minimal hurricane near Punta Abreojos, Baja California Sur about ten hours after reaching peak intensity. It degenerated into a tropical storm while crossing the Baja California peninsula. After passing through the northern Gulf of California, it made a second landfall near Isla Tiburon in the state of Sonora. Lester entered Arizona as a tropical storm on August 24, the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 1967 that an Eastern Pacific tropical cyclone entered the United States with winds of at least tropical storm intensity. Lester maintained tropical storm status until it weakened into a tropical depression near Tucson, Arizona. Later that day, the low-level circulation dissipated over New Mexico, and Lester ceased to exist as a tropical cyclone. The storm's remnants transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, as it continued to the north-northeast, ahead of an approaching trough, and later merged with the remnants of Hurricane Andrew and another frontal system on August 29, over Pennsylvania.
Preparations and impact
Hurricane Lester impacted Mexicos's Revillagigedo Islands, Baja California peninsula and the states of Sinaloa and Sonora on the mainland, as well as parts of the Southwestern United States, including California, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. No deaths were blamed on the system while at least in damages were attributed to the system. Hurricane Andrew's landfall in Florida overshadowed Lester's impacts to the United States.Mexico
The threat of the hurricane prompted the evacuation of about 10,000 residents.No observations exist for the duration when Lester, as a tropical depression, moved over Socorro Island, while winds were estimated to have reached. However, a station reported winds of six hours after Lester passed over Socorro Island. Several ships came in contact with Lester, with one in the eye reporting hurricane-force winds for 11 hours on August 22. The ship in the eye reported rough seas, causing it to roll 33° to each side and thus was responsible for a large amount of cargo to go overboard.
Hurricane Lester produced heavy rainfall across its path through the Baja California peninsula and Sonora. Peak rainfall occurred in Mulegé with. A weather station in Presa Rodriguez reported of precipitation, with several other locations reporting over. The heavy rainfall caused extensive flood damage to the west of Hermosillo, destroying some entire communities and flooding a large highway. Roads were washed out, and power lines were knocked out. Waves up to were recorded. Flash flooding from Lester caused 10,000 people to be evacuated from their homes. In addition, mudslides killed three people, and left 5,000 homeless. The storm resulted in $3 million, equivalent to $4.7 million. The Mexican Army provided relief efforts to residents after the storm.