Episode 2278
Hurricane Hector (2018)
Mon, 2023-Jul-31 01:00 UTC
Length - 3:54
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Monday, 31 July 2023 is Hurricane Hector (2018).
Hurricane Hector was a powerful and long-lasting tropical cyclone that traversed the Pacific Ocean during late July and August 2018. Hector was the eighth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season. It originated from a disturbance that was located north of South America on July 22. The disturbance tracked westward and entered the eastern Pacific around July 25. It gradually organized over the next several days, becoming a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC on July 31. The system was upgraded into a tropical storm about 12 hours later and received the name Hector. Throughout most of its existence, the cyclone traveled due west or slightly north of west. A favorable environment allowed the fledgling tropical storm to rapidly intensify to its initial peak as a Category 2 hurricane by 18:00 UTC on August 2. Wind shear caused Hector to weaken for a brief period before the storm began to strengthen again. Hector reached Category 3 status by 00:00 UTC on August 4 and went through an eyewall replacement cycle soon after, which caused the intensification to halt. After the replacement cycle, the cyclone continued to organize, developing a well-defined eye surrounded by cold cloud tops.
Hector crossed the 140th meridian west, entering the central Pacific Ocean early on August 6 as a Category 4 hurricane. It reached its peak intensity around 18:00 UTC that day, with winds of 155 mph (249 km/h) and a pressure of 936 mbar (27.64 inHg). Hector's intensity fluctuated between Category 3 and Category 4 over the next several days as a result of eyewall replacement cycles and changing environmental conditions. The hurricane passed south of Hawaii's Big Island on August 8. Strong wind shear caused Hector to weaken rapidly and take on a more northwestward track after August 11. It fell below major hurricane intensity around 18:00 UTC on August 11. Hector had spent 186 hours at that intensity – longer than any other hurricane on record in the eastern Pacific basin. The structure of the storm rapidly deteriorated as Hector approached the International Date Line; it weakened into a tropical storm by 00:00 UTC on August 13. Hector crossed into the western Pacific Ocean during the middle of the day. The tropical storm then moved generally westward while continuing to decay. It weakened into a tropical depression by midnight UTC on August 15 and dissipated the next day around 18:00 UTC.
The impact on land from the storm was minimal. Hector did not make landfall, but as it approached Hawaii, tropical storm watches and warnings were issued for the Big Island, as well as tropical storm watches for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Hector caused high surf as it passed by to the south of the main islands, necessitating the rescue of several dozen people on Oahu.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:00 UTC on Monday, 31 July 2023.
For the full current version of the article, see Hurricane Hector (2018) on Wikipedia.
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This has been Kevin Neural. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
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