The hurricane reached peak winds of 85 mph (137 km/h) before making landfall on west-central Baja California.

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 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.

The origins of Hurricane Lester can be traced back to a tropical wave that moved off the coast of western Africa on August 7.

[1] Over the next week, the wave remained rather obscure as it moved across the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, before it appeared to split into two as it approached Cuba during August 16.

[4] Despite this, Lester intensified into a hurricane late on August 22 while located about 240 miles (390 km) west of La Paz in Baja California Sur.

Early on August 23 it attained peak winds of 85 mph (137 km/h) with a minimum central pressure of 985 hPa (29.09 inHg).

Lester weakened steadily as the storm turned to the northeast, and made landfall as a minimal hurricane near Punta Abreojos, Baja California Sur about ten hours after reaching peak intensity.

[8] No observations exist for the duration when Lester, as a tropical depression, moved over Socorro Island, while winds were estimated to have reached 37 mph (60 km/h).

[1] The ship in the eye reported rough seas, causing it to roll 33° to each side and thus was responsible for a large amount of cargo to go overboard.

In addition to the rainfall, moisture from the remnants of Lester dropped 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimetres) of snow across portions of Colorado, causing traffic problems in mountainous areas.

[6] Moisture enhanced from a cold front,[17] the remnants Lester extended through the eastern United States, with Mattoon, Illinois reporting a peak of 5.96 inches (151 mm).