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Hurricane Lester (1992)

Hurricane Lester was the first Pacific tropical cyclone to enter the United States as a tropical storm since 1967. The fourteenth named storm and eighth 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 (137 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 degenerated into an extratropical low on August 24, 1992, over New Mexico. The storm's remnants later merged with the remnants of Hurricane Andrew and another frontal system on August 29.

Meteorological history

August 20, 1992

August 24

August 29, 1992

80 mph (130 km/h)

985 mbar (hPa); 29.09 inHg

3 direct

$3 million (1992 USD)

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.

Other storms of the same name

List of Baja California Peninsula hurricanes

List of Category 1 Pacific hurricanes