Tropical Storm Ela Was One of the Earliest Tropical Storms of Record in the Central Pacific Basin

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However, Ela was a bit of a statistical and historical oddity.

Ela was the third earliest-in-the-calendar central Pacific tropical storm to form on record, according to hurricane specialist Michael Lowry.

Only Ekeka on Jan. 28, 1992 and Hali on Mar. 29, 1992, formed earlier in the basin.

Interestingly, Ela began as Tropical Depression Four-E – a designation pertaining to the Eastern Pacific tropical cyclone basin – because the National Hurricane Center determined that it became a tropical cyclone just east of the 140-degree West longitude benchmark.

By the time NHC issued its first advisory, though, the depression had already drifted over that invisible line into the Central Pacific basin, which is where it became a tropical storm and therefore took its name from the Central Pacific naming list and not the Eastern Pacific list. According to hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, this has happened three other times since 1949, including Lala in 1984, Iniki in 1992 and Lana in 2009.

Shower and thunderstorm activity had difficulty persisting near the surface circulation due to southwesterly wind shear, displacing it from the center of circulation, eventually bringing on the demise of this system as a tropical cyclone by July 10.

Colorado State University tropical scientist Phil Klotzbach found tropical cyclones are about three times more likely to impact Hawaii in El Niño years vs. La Nina years.

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