00:00It's really hard to get a direct impact on Hawaii. Usually the storm either moves north or south.
00:05That was lead hurricane expert Alex Da Silva explaining how despite its tropical location,
00:10hurricanes making landfall in Hawaii are quite rare.
00:13Let's take a look at the history and reasons behind this phenomenon.
00:17Well, thanks so much for joining us here on AccuWeather Ahead.
00:20I'm Mariela Scalise and let's dive into Hawaii's hurricane history.
00:23The most active hurricane season for Hawaii was in 2015 when 12 tropical systems came within 300 nautical miles of the islands,
00:31but not all caused wind, rain, or even rough surf for Hawaii.
00:35No more than two tropical systems have ever affected the islands in any previous hurricane season.
00:40In 1992, Hurricane Iniki and Tropical Depression Orlean both officially made landfall in the state within three days of each other.
00:47Iniki is considered to be the most powerful, deadliest, and costliest hurricane to ever hit Hawaii.
00:53Making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, winds were recorded at 145 miles per hour, and thousands of homes were destroyed.
01:02So while Hawaii has experienced hurricanes in the past, several factors contribute to why these storms often don't make landfall.
01:10A high-pressure feature that looms in the atmosphere northeast of the state usually deflects or weaken storms by the time they get to the region.
01:18Accur the hurricane experts say sea surface temperatures tend to run too cool to the east of the island,
01:23and so any hurricanes approaching from the east tend to lose wind intensity and fall apart before reaching the islands.
01:29It's hurricanes approaching from the south that are more likely to hit the islands,
01:33but this does not happen very often due to the strong trade wind flow from the east.
01:38This tends to keep hurricanes tracking south of the islands on a westerly course,
01:43taking them too far west to impact the main islands.
01:46Now you know. We'll be right back.
01:48You
Comments