Hurricane Fausto (2002)

Hurricane Fausto

Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Fausto near peak intensity on August 24
Formed	August 21, 2002
Dissipated	September 3, 2002
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 145 mph (230 km/h)
Lowest pressure	936 mbar (hPa); 27.64 inHg
Fatalities	None
Damage	None
Areas affected	Aleutian Islands
Part of the 2002 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Fausto was a long-lived tropical cyclone that formed during the 2002 Pacific hurricane season. The eighth tropical cyclone and fifth named storm of the season, Fausto developed on August 21 from a tropical wave that had crossed the Atlantic, and entered the Pacific on August 17. Becoming a tropical depression, the system intensified, and quickly became Tropical Storm Fausto early on August 22. Fausto rapidly intensified, and was already a hurricane on that same day as becoming a tropical storm. Rapid intensification continued, and the tropical cyclone ultimately peaked as a strong Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. At that time, the winds 145 mph (230 km/h). Fausto began to gradually weaken after attaining peak intensity on August 24, and was eventually downgraded to a tropical storm two days later. Weakening continued, and Fausto degenerated into a remnant low on August 28 while well northeast of Hawaii.

Passing north of the Hawaiian Islands, the remnants of the hurricane later began to revive, and had re-developed into a tropical depression on August 30. Additional re-intensification was not significant, although Fausto managed to become a tropical storm again on September 1. Remaining a minimal tropical storm, no further intensification occurred, and by September 3, Fausto was absorbed by a frontal system.

The origins of Hurricane Fausto were from a tropical wave that emerged into the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the west coast of Africa on August 11. It crossed the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea uneventfully. The tropical wave ultimately entered the Eastern Pacific Basin on August 17. Rapidly organizing, the system was classified using the Dvorak technique at 1800 UTC on August 18. Although a broad closed circulation was present on August 19, the system became less organized and thus was not immediately classified as a tropical depression.