2016 Pacific hurricane season

2016 Pacific hurricane season
Season summary map
First system formed January 7, 2016 (record earliest)
Last system dissipated Season ongoing
Strongest storm1 Pali – 977 mbar (hPa) (28.85 inHg), 100 mph (155 km/h)
Total depressions 1
Total storms 1
Hurricanes 1
Major hurricanes (Cat. 3+) 0
Total fatalities None
Total damage None
1Strongest storm is determined by lowest pressure
Pacific hurricane seasons
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Related article

The 2016 Pacific hurricane season is an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation, in which tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific Ocean. On January 7, Hurricane Pali formed in the Central Pacific, becoming the earliest Central Pacific tropical cyclone to form on record.[1] The season will officially start on May 15 in the East Pacific Ocean, and on June 1 in the Central Pacific; they will both end on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Pacific basin. However, as illustrated by Hurricane Pali, the formation of tropical cyclones is possible at any time of the year.

Seasonal summary

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

The Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index for the 2016 Pacific hurricane season, as of Pali's final advisory, is 9.0325 units.[nb 1]

As the new year began, Tropical Depression Nine-C was in the Central Pacific, but dissipated later that day. Nine-C's remnants led to the formation of Pali on January 7, two days before Tropical Storm Winona's formation in 1989. Pali subsequently surpassed Hurricane Ekeka's record and became a hurricane on January 11. When Pali reached a peak intensity of 100 mph, it beat Winona to become the strongest January hurricane east of the dateline. Pali also reached a record low latitude of 2.0°N, beating Nine-C's record of 2.2°N to become the lowest tropical cyclone on record in the western hemisphere.

Storms

Hurricane Pali

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS)
Duration January 7 – January 15
Peak intensity 100 mph (155 km/h) (1-min)  977 mbar (hPa)

At the onset of 2016, the dissipating Tropical Depression Nine-C left behind a large area of moisture across the equatorial Pacific. A powerful westerly wind burst—a feature commonly associated with strong El Niño events—spurred cyclogenesis within the disturbance, resulting in the formation of an area of low pressure. Fueled by unusually high sea surface temperatures, estimated at 85.1 °F (29.5 °C), the system gradually coalesced into a tropical depression on January 7. This marked the earliest formation of a tropical cyclone on record in the Central Pacific, surpassing 1989's Tropical Storm Winona by six days.[2] It soon strengthened into a tropical storm, receiving the name Pali, becoming the earliest such system in the northeastern Pacific on record.[3] Then, on January 11, Pali strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, becoming the earliest hurricane on record in the northeast Pacific basin, beating the previous record set by Hurricane Ekeka in 1992.[4] Pali reached a minimum latitude of 2.0°N, making it the lowest latitude tropical cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, surpassing Tropical Depression Nine-C which attained a minimum latitude of 2.2°N just two weeks prior.[5][6] On January 12, Pali strengthened further into a Category 2 hurricane.[7] During the next few days, Pali gradually weakened while turning back towards the south-southeast, before weakening into a remnant low early on January 15.[8]

Unrelated to Pali, Hurricane Alex developed over the Atlantic during the last few days of Pali's existence. This marked the first known occurrence of simultaneous January tropical cyclones between the two basins.[9]

Storm names

The following names will be used for named storms that form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean during 2016. Retired names, if any, will be announced by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 2017. The names not retired from this list will be used again in the 2022 season.[10] This is the same list used in the 2010 season, except for the name Ivette, which replaced Isis after the rise of the terrorist group of the same name.[11]

  • Agatha (unused)
  • Blas (unused)
  • Celia (unused)
  • Darby (unused)
  • Estelle (unused)
  • Frank (unused)
  • Georgette (unused)
  • Howard (unused)
  • Ivette (unused)
  • Javier (unused)
  • Kay (unused)
  • Lester (unused)
  • Madeline (unused)
  • Newton (unused)
  • Orlene (unused)
  • Paine (unused)
  • Roslyn (unused)
  • Seymour (unused)
  • Tina (unused)
  • Virgil (unused)
  • Winifred (unused)
  • Xavier (unused)
  • Yolanda (unused)
  • Zeke (unused)

For storms that form in the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's area of responsibility, encompassing the area between 140 degrees west and the International Date Line, all names are used in a series of four rotating lists.[12] The next four names slated for use are shown below.

  • Pali
  • Ulika (unused)
  • Walaka (unused)
  • Akoni (unused)

Season effects

This is a table of all the storms that have formed in the 2016 Pacific hurricane season. It includes their duration, names, landfall(s), denoted in parentheses, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in 2016 USD.

Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale
TD TS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
2016 Pacific hurricane statistics
Storm
name		 Dates active Storm category

at peak intensity

 Max 1-min
wind
mph (km/h)		 Min.
press.
(mbar)		 Areas affected Damage
(millions USD)		 Deaths
Pali January 7 – 15 Category 2 hurricane 100 (155) 977 None None None
Season Aggregates
1 cyclones January 7 – Season ongoing   100 (155) 977 None None

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2016 Pacific hurricane season.

Notes

  1. ↑ The totals represent the sum of the squares for every (sub)tropical storm's intensity of over 33 knots (38 mph, 61 km/h), divided by 10,000. Calculations are provided at Talk:2016 Pacific hurricane season/ACE calcs.

References

  1. ↑ Pali Becomes Earliest Central Pacific Tropical Storm on Record
  2. ↑ Bob Henson (January 7, 2016). "Rare January Depression in Central Pacific; Atlantic Subtropical Storm Next Week?". Weather Underground. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ Bob Henson (January 8, 2016). "Warm, Wet Year for U.S.; Record Heat in South Africa; Tropical Storm Pali Intensifies". Weather Underground. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Hurricane Pali Discussion Number 19". 12 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Erdman, John. "Tropical Depression Nine-C Dissipates; Caps Off a Record Central Pacific Hurricane Season". The Weather Channel. The Weather Channel. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Ballard, R. "TROPICAL DEPRESSION PALI DISCUSSION NUMBER 30". National Weather Service. Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  7. ↑ HURRICANE PALI ADVISORY NUMBER 22
  8. ↑ REMNANTS OF PALI ADVISORY NUMBER 31
  9. ↑ Jeff Masters (January 13, 2016). "Unprecedented: Simultaneous January Named Storms in the Atlantic and Central Pacific". Weather Underground. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Tropical Cyclone Names". National Hurricane Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2013-04-11. Archived from the original on May 8, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  11. ↑ "'Isis' among names removed from UN list of hurricane names". Reuters. April 17, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Pacific Tropical Cyclone Names". Central Pacific Hurricane Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. April 11, 2013. Archived from the original (PHP) on May 8, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.

External links

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