Nora Adds to Record-Breaking Central Pacific Tropical Activity

Nora moved into the Central Pacific Basin on Sunday, where unusually warm waters have led to a record 14 tropical systems this hurricane season.

Nora weakened to a tropical depression early Wednesday, and will stay away from Hawaii, with the main impacts being to shipping interests in its lifetime.

AccuWeather meteorologists will be monitoring Nora in the event it gets closer to Hawaii and bring rough seas to the islands.

Even in the event that no impacts are felt on Hawaii, Nora will still go into history books as the record 14th tropical system (either a depression, storm or hurricane) to roam the waters of the Central Pacific Basin this year.

Since reliable record-keeping began in the late 1960s, never has there been as many tropical systems in the Central Pacific in a given year. The previous highest tally was 11 during the years 1992 and 1994.

This number includes systems that either developed in the Central Pacific or tracked westward from the Eastern Pacific. The border of the Central Pacific Basin lies from 140 degrees west longitude to the International Date Line.

The Central Pacific is typically not an active basin with four to five organized systems observed on average every year, compared to the 15 named storms (which does not even count tropical depressions) that form on average in the Eastern Pacific annually.

In normal years, tropical systems in the Eastern Pacific will take a more northwestward than westward track, eventually weakening due to cooler waters before reaching the Central Pacific.

With warmer-than-normal ocean water in place, a record number of systems have been able to form this year in the Central Pacific or track far enough westward from the Eastern Pacific.

"The warmer the water, the more the air will rise and lead to increased storminess," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Ben Noll.

Despite the increase in tropical activity, Hawaii has so far escaped a direct hit this year.

Nearly half of the systems that roamed the Central Pacific, including Guillermo, Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena, passed close enough to put residents and visitors on heightened alert for rough surf and, in some cases, flooding downpours.

Nora will likely not re-enter the Eastern Pacific Basin again which will keep it from entering the record books. This feat has not been done since at least 1970.

However, tropical activity should diminish later this month.

According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Anthony Sagliani, "By late October, winds aloft usually become too hostile for tropical systems to form or maintain themselves over the Central Pacific."

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