Destructive Central Pacific Hurricanes

Hurricane Iniki, September 1992 (Source: NOAA)

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world.  Consequently, it’s relatively rare for the Hawaiian Islands to get a direct hit from a hurricane.  However, there have been some noteworthy hurricanes that directly or indirectly impacted the 50^th state.  Hurricane Lane is the most recent one.

2018: On August 22, Hurricane Lane reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 with sustained winds of 160 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 922 millibars (mb).  By comparison, standard sea level air pressure is approximately 1013.25 mb.  Air pressure is considered a more accurate measure of hurricane intensity than wind speed.  Unlike most tropical storms and hurricanes that remain well south of the Hawaiian Islands, Lane turned northward toward Hawaii.  

Fortunately, Lane weakened relatively quickly and never made landfall.  Lane still brought record rainfall to Hawaii with totals of more than 3’ to 4’ in places.  This illustrates the fact that hurricanes and tropical storms are large systems that don’t have to make landfall to have destructive and deadly impacts.  Hurricane Lane has had the most significant impact of any tropical storm or hurricane in Hawaii in more than a quarter century.

2006:  The strongest hurricane on record in the Central Pacific Ocean was Hurricane Ioke in August 2006 that reached Category 5 intensity with sustained winds of 160 mph and minimum central pressure of 915 mb.  

1992:  Hurricane Iniki had an unusual track where it remained well south of Hawaii over warm ocean water.  That helped it intensify to Category 4 status as it turn northward and made landfall on the island of Kauai with sustained winds of 145 mph.  Hurricane Iniki remains Hawaii’s most destructive hurricane on record having caused $3.1 billion in damage, according to NOAA.  Iniki didn’t get as much attention as it otherwise would have since it occurred less than three weeks after Hurricane Andrew devastated parts of Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

1959:  At the time, Hurricane Dot was Hawaii’s costliest hurricane on record having caused approximately $6 million in damage (unadjusted for inflation).  Dot was a Category 4 hurricane at peak intensity with sustained winds of 150 mph.  However, it weakened to a Category 1 storm before making landfall on the island of Kauai late on August 6. 

1950:  A compact storm that only reached Category 1 status at peak intensity, Hiki was Hawaii’s first hurricane since official record-keeping began.  Hurricane forecasting began to improve dramatically after World War II when reconnaissance flights began flying into storms to collect data.  The TIROS 1 weather satellite that launched in 1960 was NASA’s first weather satellite and they have provided invaluable information ever since.