Hurricane Ismael was responsible for significant flooding throughout the Inland Empire of the United States in August 1983.

Continuing to intensify, Ismael was upgraded into a hurricane late on August 10 and subsequently developed an eye.

On August 14, the storm was downgraded into a tropical depression approximately 250 mi (400 km) west of Point Ensenada.

[1] After remaining a marginal tropical storm for 18 hours, Ismael began to deepen and by August 10, it was approaching hurricane intensity.

At 0245 UTC the next day, an eye began to form as the system passed east of the outer Revillagigedo Islands.

At the time of its peak, Hurricane Ismael was located about 400 mi (640 km) west of Cabo San Lucas.

[3] Sandwiched between a ridge to the west of the hurricane and a trough off the coast of California, Ismael turned west-northwest and accelerated.

The following day, Ismael was downgraded into a tropical storm about 380 mi (610 km) west of the Baja California Peninsula.

[1] During its first penetration, the aircraft reported winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) just east of the center and also noted that the weakening system had a poorly defined eye.

Based on this, the storm was downgraded into a tropical depression while centered about 250 mi (400 km) west of Point Ensenada.

The depression dissipated later on August 14 about 20 mi (30 km) southwest of Guadalupe Island[3] which is not normally affected by tropical cyclones.

[8][9] Overall, Hurricane Ismael was one of six tropical cyclones to bring high waves to the state within a span of a month.

[10] On August 11, the outer rainbands of Hurricane Ismael brought unseasonably high humidity and thunderstorms to Southern California.

[14] The towns of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, California, and Landers were the hardest hit.

[21] Heavy rains that preceded the storm forced thousands of gamblers along the Las Vegas Strip to be evacuated and left two people missing.

[26] Residents of Davis County, Utah that were in close proximity of streams were put on alert due to the threat of flooding.