Lackluster hurricane season ends with no threat to Hawaii
Dec. 1—The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said it was likely to be an underwhelming hurricane season, and 2021 turned out to be just that.
Only three named storms entered the boundaries of the North Central Pacific north of the equator between 140 degrees west and the international dateline (180 degrees ) during the June-to-November hurricane season.
All three cyclones—two of them former major hurricanes—were running out of gas as they crossed the 140-degree west boundary and fizzled before they reached Hawaii—although some remnants were felt in the islands in the form of heavy rain and minor flooding.
The hurricane season officially ended today.
In May the hurricane center had predicted two to five tropical cyclones for the Central Pacific, saying there was an 80 % chance for a near-normal to below-normal hurricane season.
Forecasters said ocean temperatures were expected to be near average to below average where hurricanes form in the tropical Pacific Ocean. With hurricanes getting their fuel from warmer waters, that doesn't favor cyclone development.
In addition, the El Nino climate pattern, which often generates a busy hurricane season in the Pacific, was not present this summer. There were neutral conditions in the equatorial Pacific, and ocean temperatures steadily cooled during the summer, leading the Climate Prediction Center to declare that La Nina was present in October.
The Central Pacific averages four to five storms a year.
It was the third straight year that the Central Pacific basin experienced a lackluster hurricane season. Few storms have come near the islands over the past few years, although one of them, Hurricane Douglas, came within 30 miles of Oahu in 2020.
As is often the case when the hurricane season in the Pacific is slow, the Atlantic Ocean is busy. This year the Atlantic experienced 21 named storms (winds of 39 mph or greater ), including seven hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater ), of which four were major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater ).
This year was the third most active year on record in terms of named storms in the Atlantic, officials said. It marked the sixth consecutive above-normal Atlantic hurricane season and the first time on record that two consecutive hurricane seasons exhausted the list of 21 storm names.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane Felicia, once packing winds of 145 mph, crossed into the Central Pacific as a tropical depression July 20 and was declared a remnant low almost immediately 1, 000 nautical miles east of Hawaii.
Former Tropical Storm Jimena entered the Central Pacific as a tropical depression Aug. 6 and weakened into a remnant low on the same day.
According to the National Weather Service, moisture from the former cyclone moved across the state Aug. 10-11 and generated bursts of heavy rainfall over eastern Kauai. Hikers reported that Kapaa Stream rose rapidly at Hoopii Falls, but there were no reports of flood damage or injuries. Heavy rainfall also fell on the Big Island's Kau district.
Once-powerful Hurricane Linda appeared in the Central Pacific as a rapidly weakening tropical storm Aug. 19 and became post-tropical the next day.
The remnant low would later drop heavy rain across Hawaii on Aug. 22-23, causing minor flooding on the Big Island, Maui, Molokai and Oahu.
While the six-month hurricane season officially ended today, meteorologists say it is possible for tropical storms to develop during any month of the year.
