Hurricane Cesar–Douglas

Hurricane Cesar–Douglas was one of the few tropical cyclones to survive the crossover from the Atlantic to east Pacific basin, and was the last to receive a new storm name upon doing so. Hurricane Cesar was the third named storm and second hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. The system formed in the southern Caribbean Sea and affected several countries in South America before crossing Nicaragua and entering the Eastern Pacific where it was renamed Hurricane Douglas, the fourth named storm, third hurricane, and first and strongest major hurricane of the 1996 Pacific hurricane season. Cesar developed from a tropical wave off the coast of Venezuela on July 24. Initially a tropical depression, it strengthened to a tropical storm eighteen hours later. On July 27, Cesar attained hurricane status about halfway between Nicaragua and Colombia. On July 28, Hurricane Cesar made landfall just north of Bluefields, Nicaragua, weakening to tropical storm status. Cesar emerged into the eastern Pacific Ocean by July 29 and was renamed Tropical Storm Douglas. At the time, the agreement through the World Meteorological Organization was for storms to be renamed if they crossed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This made Cesar the most recent tropical cyclone to traverse from the Atlantic to east Pacific basin until Hurricane Otto achieved the same feat in 2016.

On July 29, Douglas attained hurricane status southwest of the Guatemala/Mexico border. On July 31, Douglas attained major hurricane status, or a Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson scale, and by early on August 1, Douglas reached peak winds of 130 mph (210 km/h), equivalent to a low end Category 4. Later that day, the hurricane attained its lowest pressure of 946 mbar, about 275 miles (443 km) south of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Douglas maintained peak intensity for 36 hours, until Douglas began to weaken on August 2. On August 3 the hurricane deteriorated to tropical storm status, and weakened to tropical depression status on August 5. By August 6 Douglas could no longer be classified as a tropical cyclone. The remnant circulation continued westward for several days.

In Nicaragua, the storm wrought about $50.5 million in losses. More than 2,500 homes, 39 bridges and 25 miles (40 km) of roads were destroyed. The storm killed 42 people and left an estimated 100,000 homeless in Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, river flooding damaged or destroyed 3,874 homes; 150 bridges were also destroyed. The road network was significantly damaged. Across the country, at least 39 people were killed and damage amounted to $151 million. Additionally, 12 people died in El Salvador. Hurricane Douglas brought up to 6 in (150 mm) of rain on the south coast of Mexico and resulted in a 4-ft (1.2-m) storm surge. Two deaths by drowning were reported. Overall, Cesar–Douglas caused 115 deaths and $203 million in damage.