Rachel (2014)

A well-organized tropical wave that crossed Central America developed into a tropical depression on 24 September 2014 about a couple hundred nautical miles south of Acapulco, Mexico. The system moved generally west to west-northwest, then turned northward and north-northwest as a mid-latitude trough influenced its steering. Rachel slowly intensified into a tropical storm on 25 September, became a hurricane on 27 September, reached peak strength late on 27 into 28 September, and then weakened as it moved northward and into cooler, drier, and more sheared conditions. Rachel lost its tropical cyclone status on 30 September and its remnant low dissipated by 3 October.

Rachel did not make any landfalls. Its entire life as a tropical cyclone occurred over the northeastern Pacific Ocean while it paralleled the coast of Mexico and remained well offshore of the Baja California peninsula and mainland Mexico.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds peaked at 75 kt (approximately 86 mph) and its minimum central pressure was analyzed at 980 mb between 0000 and 1200 UTC on 28 September 2014, making Rachel a Category 1 hurricane at peak intensity.

Because Rachel stayed well offshore, there were no reports of storm surge impacts tied to the cyclone in coastal towns, and the official report recorded no reports of damage. The NHC report also lists no rainfall totals or storm-surge measurements of consequence for named cities or counties associated with Rachel, and no ship reports of tropical-storm-force winds were recorded.

There were no confirmed casualties—no deaths or injuries—attributed to Rachel. The primary impact outcome was minimal because the cyclone remained far from land throughout its life.

Noteworthy items: Rachel was a relatively small hurricane that underwent a center reformation on 26 September, which produced a southwest kink in its track and a contraction of its wind field. Forecasts of its genesis and track were generally accurate and performed better than average; intensity forecasts had a low bias and initially did not fully anticipate the brief intensification to hurricane strength.