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Hurricane Iselle Recap: Hawaii Landfall with Flooding and Wind Damage

Tropical Storm Iselle in a Friday morning update from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, became only the second tropical storm on record to landfall on the Big Island of Hawaii early Friday morning.

Iselle made landfall at 2:30 a.m. HST on Friday, Aug. 8 about five miles east of Pahala, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. The only other tropical storm on record dating to 1950 to come in from the east and hit the Big Island was in 1958, with peak sustained winds of 50 mph. Overall, Iselle is a rare -- if not historical -- tropical cyclone.

There were reports of structural damage, trees downed, power outages, and some flooding. Roofs were reportedly removed from homes just southeast of Hilo late Thursday night. Some parts of the Big Island picked up over a foot of rain with Kulani NWR seeing 15.05" of rain.

Some outer rainbands have also affected parts of Maui County. Twelve-inch diameter tree branches were broken and Piiholo Road was closed by downed trees and powerlines in Makawao. Streets were flooded by 3-4 inches of water, there, as well. Winds have gusted as high as 60 mph on the island of Kaho'Olawe.

Winds gusted to to 72 mph at the Oahu Forest, while the Honolulu Airport was a peak wind gust of 41 mph.

Iselle then became post-tropical Friday at 11 p.m. HST, but still brought bands of heavy rain to Kauai with over 6.5" of rain reported at Kilohana.

Iselle's History

Iselle bypassed tropical depression status and formed as a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean about 1075 miles southwest of the tip of Baja California on Thursday, July 31.

(MORE: Hawaii Hurricane History)

Iselle gained strength as it moved west-northwest through open waters and became a hurricane on August 1. This made Iselle the fourth hurricane of the 2014 eastern Pacific hurricane season. On Saturday, August 2, Iselle's maximum sustained wind speeds increased to 110 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane.

Iselle became a major hurricane on Sunday morning, August 3 when its maximum sustained winds reached an estimated 115 mph. It fell back to Category 2 status early Sunday evening, but then quickly re-intensified to Category 3 status late Sunday night with estimated winds to 125 mph. Monday afternoon, August 4, Iselle peaked as a category 4 hurricane with estimated maximum winds of 140 mph.

Iselle began weakening thereafter, and crossed the 140-degree West longitude line on Tuesday, August 5. This took Iselle from the Eastern Pacific basin into the Central Pacific basin. Per established convention, the storm retains its original name even while crossing into another basin with its own list of tropical cyclone names.

Iselle made landfall at 2:30 a.m. HST on August 8, about five miles east of Pahala, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. The only other tropical storm on record dating to 1950 to come in from the east and hit the Big Island was in 1958, with peak sustained winds of 50 mph. Overall, Iselle is a rare -- if not historical -- tropical cyclone.

By maximum wind speed, Iselle is the third-strongest tropical cyclone of 2014 in the Eastern Pacific basin, behind Amanda and Cristina. However, Iselle has now surpassed both of those to attain the highest accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index so far this season. The ACE index combines maximum wind speeds with the duration of the storm to estimate the total wind energy generated during a cyclone's lifetime.