UPDATE 8/6/14: I have added my live blog from Hurricane Bertha in 1996. It includes a play-by-play of the storm, including never-before-seen radar, satellite and other maps, as well as a video capture I took of high waves at the Long Beach pier on Oak Island, North Carolina, the day before the storm struck. I have not been able to locate the VHS video yet.

UPDATE 8/5/14: We have some additional information online about the rarity of Hurricanes in Hawaii. Thinking back to Iniki 1992, I remembered this neat map prepared by Theodore Fujita himself, which we published in the 1992 Storm Data publication at NCDC, where I worked at the time:

UPDATE: Tropical Depression Genevieve has been revived, and is forecast to pass the 180 degree line, making it the first storm to pass through the Eastern, Central and West Pacific basins since 2003 (it has only happened six times in recorded history).

UPDATE: Brian has pointed out on Facebook"I found just seven [tropical] storms [passing] near Hawaii (the most recent was Flossie 2013 and the most intense was Iniki 1992). Two storms in one year would be a first, let alone two in THREE DAYS!"

ORIGINAL BLOG 8/4/2014:

As is often true this time of year, the tropics are busy, with five notable named storms. Here they are as seen from satellite:

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First up, three tropical storms are scaring the state of Hawaii this week. Tropical Storm Genevieve (my step-daughter's namesake) went south of the islands and faded over the weekend. She was originally forecast to pass the international dateline, a feat few storms have done, but she was considered dead at -165.5 W latitude.

Hurricane Iselle is now a powerful Category 4 storm bound for the islands, but it's unlikely it will still be hurricane-force by the time it reaches them. Behind Iselle is Tropical Storm Julio, headed in the same general direction.

Of these storms, Hurricane Iselle is clearly the best looking, strongest storm today, with a well-defined eye on satellite.

In the Atlantic, Hurricane Bertha will likely be a "fish storm" affecting only our underwater friends (with the exception of rough surf on U.S. shores).

Sidenote: Brian McNoldy pointed out on Facebook today: "The last time the A and B storms in the Atlantic both became hurricanes was in 1992: Andrew and Bonnie... This year we have Arthur and Bertha. The last time Hawaii was hit by a hurricane was in 1992: Iniki..."

Eighteen years ago, it was a different story... the Bertha of that year (one month earlier; the name has been used seven times including in 2002 and 2008) would make landfall on the Carolina coast, and I was there to see it. I'll try to dig up some of that old VHS footage; I was living in Raleigh in 1996 and it ended up being a proof-of-concept chase that prepared me for my much-better-documented chase of Hurricane Fran in September of that year.

And last but not least, there were two storms in the West Pacific as of last night: Tropical Storm Nakri, which has dissipated in South Korea, and Typhoon Halong, which will hit Japan with more rain (after they had over 30 inches this weekend!).

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