Hurricane Liza (1968)
| Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
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Hurricane Liza on August 30 at peak intensity.
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| Formed | August 28, 1968 |
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| Dissipated | September 6, 1968 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 85 mph (140 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 998 mbar (hPa); 29.47 inHg |
| Fatalities | None |
| Damage | $5,000 (1968 USD) |
| Areas affected | California |
| Part of the 1968 Pacific hurricane season | |
Hurricane Liza was the third hurricane of the 1968 Pacific hurricane season. Forming from an area of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) on August 28 and reaching tropical storm strength in the same day, Liza meandered generally westward over the Pacific Ocean, reaching hurricane strength on August 29 while far from land. It maintained that intensity until September 2, when the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm, but avoided tropical depression status despite the presentation seen by an Air Force reconnaissance plane. After weakening, the storm moved northwestward, weakening to a depression on September 4, when it began a turn to the east. There is a possibility that the depression completed a small loop between the downgrade and its dissipation on September 6.
Although it remained far from land, the waves triggered by Liza were able to reach California, where they combined with high tide, threatening beachfront homes that had weakened foundations after a previous tide. The hurricane was responsible for sweeping hundreds of Labor Day swimmers out into the ocean in Zuma Beach and Newport Beach, all of whom were saved by lifeguards. The waves also tore off a group of sundecks estimated at $5,000 (1968 USD) near Laguna Beach.
For a period beginning on August 25, the ITCZ was active near the border between Mexico and Guatemala. A report of 40 mph (64 km/h) winds, a barometric pressure of 1010.5 mbar, and heavy thundershowers was received from a Coast Guard cutter called the Androscoggin while the ship was 150 mi (240 km) south of Tehuantepec. The report also mentioned that the thundershowers were generating 9-foot (2.7 m) high swells. The conditions developed in a northward bend in the ITCZ that was moving westward. No activity other than clusters of rain were shown on satellite until August 28, when a tropical disturbance suddenly developed along the bend, reaching tropical depression status as the day began. The depression became Tropical Storm Liza later that day, when the ship Jag Jawan reported winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) and 1003.2 mbar. Another ship named Teverya, which was 60 mi (97 km) northwest of the Jag Jawan, reported similar wind speeds, but a pressure of 998 mbar, the lowest barometric pressure recorded from the storm throughout its life. Satellite pictures showed a vortex arrangement consisting of three cloud masses and two arching bands of cumulonimbus clouds, all of which were producing cirrus outflow.
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