Hurricane Javier (2004)

Hurricane Javier

Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Javier near peak intensity on September 13
Formed	September 10, 2004
Dissipated	September 20, 2004
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 150 mph (240 km/h)
Lowest pressure	930 mbar (hPa); 27.46 inHg
Fatalities	3 missing
Areas affected	Baja California, southwestern United States
Part of the 2004 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Javier was the tenth named storm and the sixth and final hurricane of the 2004 Pacific hurricane season. Javier was also the strongest hurricane of the 2004 season, with 150 mph (240 km/h) winds and a central pressure of 930 millibars (27.46 Hg). However, because of high wind shear in the East Pacific, Javier weakened rapidly before making landfall in Baja California as a tropical depression. The remnants of the storm then continued moving northeast through the Southwestern United States. Javier caused no direct fatalities, and the damage in Mexico and the United States was minimal.

The origins of Javier was from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on August 29. The disturbance crossed the Atlantic Ocean without further development due to unfavorable conditions. The tropical wave then combined with another low pressure system near the Leeward Islands and the two systems continued to move westward across the Caribbean Sea. The storm crossed Central America on September 9 where it gained more convection. On September 10, the disturbance became Tropical Depression 13-E at 1800 UTC. The next day, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Javier.

Weak wind shear allowed Javier to reach hurricane strength on September 12. Then the storm moved slowly to the west and northwest around a subtropical ridge that was centered over Mexico. Javier then underwent rapid intensification as the storm reached a peak intensity of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a central pressure of 930 millibars. These numbers qualified it as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and made it the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2004 Pacific hurricane season.