Hurricane Kiko was one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record to have made landfall on Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

The eleventh named storm of the 1989 Pacific hurricane season, Kiko formed out of a large mesoscale convective system on August 25.

Shower and thunderstorm activity was present around an area of low pressure the following day; however, insufficient reports from the region hindered the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) forecasting ability.

By August 25, satellite intensity estimates, using the Dvorak technique, indicated that the low had developed into a tropical depression around 1200 UTC, while the storm was located about 115 miles (185 kilometers) south of Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

[3] Located within an area with little or no steering current, and situated over warm waters and underneath an upper-level low, conditions were near perfect for rapid intensification, despite the proximity to land.

Intensification continued for another six hours, ending around 0000 UTC on August 27, at which time the storm reached its peak intensity with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 955 mbar (hPa; 28.2 inHg).

[12] Kiko weakened slightly before making landfall near Punta Arena, on the southern tip of Baja California, with winds of 115 mph (185 kph).

[1] Around 2100 UTC on August 25, the Government of Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the Islas Marías and areas between the southern border of Sonora and El Dorado.

Roughly three hours later, the previous hurricane watch issued for Sonora was discontinued as Kiko was no longer forecast to make landfall in the state.

Due to uncertainty in Kiko's track, a hurricane watch was re-issued for Sonora between El Dorado and Los Mochis.

Around 0900 UTC on August 27, a hurricane warning was issued for areas south of San Carlos on the Pacific coast of Baja California.

[25] Several days after Kiko dissipated, remnant moisture from the storm contributed to a complex weather system that produced torrential rainfall throughout the U.S. state of Kansas, unofficially reaching 16 in (410 mm) in localized areas.