High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hurricane Howard was a powerful Category 4 hurricane which produced large swells along the coasts of Baja California and southern California. The eighth named storm of the 2004 Pacific hurricane season, Howard originated out of a tropical wave off the coast of Mexico on August 30. Traveling towards the northwest, the storm gradually strengthened, becoming a hurricane on September 1 and reaching its peak intensity the following day with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h). Decreasing sea surface temperatures then caused the storm to weaken. By September 4, Howard was downgraded to a tropical storm. The next day, it degenerated into a non-convective remnant low pressure area which persisted for another five days before dissipating over open waters.