Hawaii’s hurricane season is below average
As Hawaii’s hurricane season comes to a close, the Central Pacific saw only two tropical cyclones develop, including the more damaging one, which walloped Hawaii Island in August, along with damage to parts of Maui and Oahu.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Saturday, and weather conditions are forecast over the next few days with temperatures in the lower 80s and relatively clear skies, reducing the risk of a third cyclone hitting the islands by Saturday.
Hawaii typically sees four to five tropical cyclones each hurricane season.
In May the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast one to four tropical cyclones — the umbrella term that includes hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions.
NOAA’s prediction included a 50% chance of a below-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season and a 20% chance of an above-normal season.
Going back to 1970, there were no tropical cyclones in 1977 and 1979 and as many as 16 in 2015.
Like this season, more recently there were two in 2020, one each in 2021 and 2022, and four in 2023.
What later became Hurricane Hone represented the first tropical cyclone of the season when it developed Aug. 22 about 1,000 miles east-southeast of Hawaii island.
Hone grew in intensity and became a hurricane — with 85 mph winds — two days later as it came about 50 miles south-southeast of Ka Lae, the southern tip of the Big Island.
Hone hit Hawaii island Aug. 25 with flash flooding that damaged homes and closed roads, causing nearly $2 million in damage.
Tropical storm-force winds knocked over trees and utility poles on the Big Island, along with damage to parts of Maui and Oahu.
“We saw significant flooding in places that we haven’t seen in a while, specifically in Kau,” said Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno. “A couple of homes had major damage to them in Kau. They didn’t even have insurance and relied on the community to support them.”
About half of the cost of repairs was borne by the Hawaii County Public Works Department, which spent about $900,000 repairing county roads, especially Kaalaiki Road, which runs between Pahala and Naalehu, Magno said.
During heavy rainfall three weeks ago, flooding damaged culverts that had been “washed out” in August by Hurricane Hone.
“So we’re still working on the damage from Hone,” Magno said.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Hawaii County, the cost of the damage from Hurricane Hone did not rise to the level to qualify for federal assistance, Magno said.
Hone weakened to a tropical depression Aug. 29, then picked up intensity again as a tropical storm from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, triggering a tropical storm watch for Kure and Midway atolls and portions of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from Lisianski Island to Pearl and Hermes Atoll.
Hurricane Gilma — also with 85 mph wind speeds — followed on Aug. 27 but quickly dissipated east of the islands and caused no damage.
