The 1998 season

Hurricane Lester (1998)

Hurricane Lester reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between October 15, 1998 and October 26, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Lester, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
October 15, 1998 to October 26, 1998
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 123 km (76 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
23.7
Fastest the center moved
10 kt (12 mph)
Identifier
EP141998

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 15, 00:0011.3N 91.7W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 15, 06:0011.8N 91.8W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 15, 12:0012.3N 92.1W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 15, 18:0012.7N 92.5W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0013.1N 93.0W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0013.6N 93.5W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0014.0N 94.0W50 kt997 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0014.2N 94.4W70 kt991 mbHurricane
Oct 17, 00:0014.3N 94.7W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Oct 17, 06:0014.4N 95.1W80 kt980 mbHurricane
Oct 17, 12:0014.5N 95.4W85 kt976 mbHurricane
Oct 17, 18:0014.5N 95.8W85 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 18, 00:0014.5N 96.4W85 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 18, 06:0014.5N 97.1W85 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 18, 12:0014.4N 97.8W85 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 18, 18:0014.3N 98.5W90 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 19, 00:0014.2N 99.4W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 19, 06:0014.3N 100.3W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Oct 19, 12:0014.4N 101.3W85 kt974 mbHurricane
Oct 19, 18:0014.6N 102.2W80 kt978 mbHurricane
Oct 20, 00:0014.9N 103.0W85 kt977 mbHurricane
Oct 20, 06:0015.0N 103.9W90 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 20, 12:0015.2N 104.8W90 kt971 mbHurricane
Oct 20, 18:0015.5N 105.8W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 21, 00:0015.9N 106.7W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 21, 06:0016.2N 107.5W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 21, 12:0016.5N 108.1W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 21, 18:0016.6N 108.6W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 22, 00:0016.6N 108.7W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 22, 06:0016.7N 108.8W95 kt967 mbHurricane
Oct 22, 12:0016.8N 108.8W100 kt965 mbHurricane
Oct 22, 18:0016.7N 108.9W100 kt966 mbHurricane
Oct 23, 00:0016.5N 109.0W95 kt970 mbHurricane
Oct 23, 06:0016.3N 109.1W80 kt980 mbHurricane
Oct 23, 12:0016.0N 109.4W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Oct 23, 18:0015.5N 109.7W60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0015.2N 110.1W55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0015.1N 110.6W50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0015.3N 111.3W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0015.5N 112.0W45 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0016.0N 112.8W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0016.5N 113.6W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0017.0N 114.2W40 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0017.3N 114.7W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0017.4N 115.1W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 26, 06:0017.5N 115.3W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 26, 12:0017.7N 115.2W25 kt1005 mbTropical depression

Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1998

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.