Hurricane Lester (1992)

Hurricane Lester

Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Lester near landfall
Formed	August 20, 1992
Dissipated	August 24, 1992
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 80 mph (130 km/h)
Lowest pressure	985 mbar (hPa); 29.09 inHg
Fatalities	3 direct
Damage	$3 million (1992 USD)
Areas affected	Baja California, northwestern Mexico, southwestern United States
Part of the 1992 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Lester was the first Pacific tropical cyclone to enter the United States as a tropical storm since 1967. The twelfth named storm and seventh 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 85 mph (140 km/h) 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 dissipated on August 24, 1992, over New Mexico.

In Mexico, the hurricane resulted in $3 million in damage (1992 USD, $4.7 million 2011 USD). 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.

A weak tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 7. It tracked across the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea without development due to strong wind shear. The wave then split into two, with the northern portion dissipating over Cuba on August 15 and the southern portion continuing westward. The wave crossed Central America and entered the Pacific Ocean on August 16. Deep convection increased over the wave upon entering the Pacific, and early on August 19 it started to become better organized. After the development of a low-level circulation, the system organized into Tropical Depression Fourteen-E on August 20 while located about 275 miles (445 km) south-southwest of Manzanillo, Colima.