Tropical Storm Rachel (1990)
| Tropical Storm (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Satellite image of Tropical Storm Rachel over Baja California Sur
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| Formed | September 27, 1990 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | October 3, 1990 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 65 mph (100 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 994 mbar (hPa); 29.35 inHg |
| Fatalities | 18 direct |
| Areas affected | Baja California Sur, Mainland Mexico, Texas |
| Part of the 1990 Pacific hurricane season | |
Tropical Storm Rachel was the only tropical cyclone to make landfall during the 1990 Pacific hurricane season. The twenty-fourth tropical depression and eighteenth named storm, Rachel developed on September 27 from a tropical wave southwest of mainland Mexico. After becoming a tropical depression, the system tracked slowly southwestward and eventually curved northwestward. The depression intensified into a tropical storm after three days and was named Rachel by the National Hurricane Center. Rachel continued to steadily strengthen, and peaked as a strong 65 mph (100 km/h) tropical storm on October 2. After attaining peak intensity, Rachel re-curved to make a landfall in southern Baja California Sur and again in the Mexican Mainland on October 3. The storm produced heavy rainfall across northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Thousands of people were left homeless and 18 fatalities were reported.
The origins of Rachel can be traced back to a tropical wave that moved off the west coast Africa in mid-September 1990. It moved westward into the Caribbean Sea without significant development. Poorly organized, the wave entered the Eastern Pacific on overnight September 22. The thunderstorm activity became more concentrated two days later. Dvorak classifications, a technique used to estimate a tropical cyclone's intensity, began late September 25.
Early on September 27, the twenty-fourth tropical depression of the season had developed; however, operationally it was not warned upon until the system was located 540 mi (870 km) south of Baja California Sur on September 30. Post-analysis later confirm that Rachel was already a minimal tropical storm by that time. Although convection initially remained displaced from the center, Rachel steadily intensified. Early on September 30, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) operationally upgraded the depression into Tropical Storm Rachel. While intensifying, an upper-level trough over California allowed Rachel to re-curve towards Mexico. On October 2, it reached its peak intensity of 65 mph (100 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 994 mbar (hPa; 29.35 inHg).
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