The lackluster hurricane season ends safely for Hawaii

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said it was likely to be an overwhelming hurricane season, and in 2021 it turned out to be just that.

During the June through November hurricane season, only three named storms penetrated the boundaries of the north-central Pacific north of the equator between 140 degrees west and the international date line (180 degrees).

All three cyclones – two of which were former major hurricanes – ran out of gas as they crossed the 140-degree western border and deflagrated before reaching Hawaii – although some remnants were felt on the islands in the form of heavy rain and minor flooding.

The hurricane season officially ended today.

In May, the hurricane center predicted two to five tropical cyclones for the central Pacific and said there was an 80% probability of a near-normal to below-average hurricane season.

Meteorologists said ocean temperatures would be near average to below average where hurricanes form in the tropical Pacific. Since hurricanes get their fuel from warmer waters, this does not favor the development of cyclones.

Additionally, the El Nino climate pattern, which often creates a busy hurricane season in the Pacific, was absent this summer. Conditions in the equatorial Pacific were neutral and ocean temperatures continued to cool in summer, leading the Climate Prediction Center to declare that La Nina was present in October.

There are an average of four to five storms a year in the Central Pacific.

It was the third year in a row that the Central Pacific Basin had a lackluster hurricane season. Few storms have occurred near the islands in recent years, although one of them, Hurricane Douglas, occurred within 30 miles of Oahu in 2020.

As is often the case when the Pacific hurricane season is slow, the Atlantic is very busy. That year, the Atlantic saw 21 named storms (winds of 39 miles per hour or more), including seven hurricanes (winds of 74 miles per hour or more), four of which were major hurricanes (winds of 111 miles per hour or more) were.

This year marked the third most active year on record for named storms in the Atlantic, officials said. It was the sixth consecutive above-average Atlantic hurricane season and the first time that two consecutive hurricane seasons exhausted the list of 21 storm names.

In the Pacific, the former Hurricane Felicia, which once had winds of 145 miles per hour, crossed the central Pacific as a tropical depression on July 20 and was declared a residual low 1,000 nautical miles east of Hawaii almost immediately.

The former tropical storm Jimena entered the central Pacific as a tropical depression on August 6 and weakened to a residual low on the same day.

According to the National Weather Service, the former cyclone’s moisture moved across the state from Aug. 10-11, causing heavy rains over eastern Kauai. Hikers reported that the Kapaa Stream rose rapidly at the Hoopii Falls, but there were no reports of flood damage or injuries. Heavy rains also fell in the Kau district on the Big Island.

Once powerful Hurricane Linda appeared in the central Pacific as a rapidly weakening tropical storm on August 19 and turned post-tropical the next day.

The remaining low would later drop heavy rain over Hawaii from August 22-23, causing minor flooding on the Big Island, Maui, Molokai and Oahu.

Although the six-month hurricane season officially ended today, according to weather forecasters, tropical storms can develop any month of the year.