Dear Tom,
You recently mentioned a hurricane near Hawaii. Isn’t that rare, and why isn’t is being called a typhoon?
Thanks, Leon Panofsky
Dear Leon,
To be classified a typhoon, a tropical cyclone must develop or move west of the 180th meridian (International Date Line), so the tropical cyclones affecting Hawaii are hurricanes. The threat of a landfall in Hawaii is considerably lower than in the Caribbean or along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. The storms in that part of the Pacific seldom make a direct hit on the islands, usually just skirting them with fringe effects. Since 1950 only two storms have made a direct hit, both on Kauai: Hurricane Dot in 1959 and Hurricane Iniki in 1992. In 2003 Hurricane Jimena passed within 120 miles of the Big Island’s South Point bringing 50 m.p.h. winds, 15-foot waves and considerable flooding.
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