Hurricane Flossie (2007)
| Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Hurricane Flossie on August 11
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| Formed | August 8, 2007 |
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| Dissipated | August 16, 2007 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 140 mph (220 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 949 mbar (hPa); 28.02 inHg |
| Fatalities | None |
| Damage | Minimal |
| Areas affected | Hawaii |
| Part of the 2007 Pacific hurricane season | |
Hurricane Flossie was a powerful Pacific tropical cyclone that brought squally weather and light damage to Hawaii in August 2007. The sixth named storm, second hurricane, first and only major hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Flossie originated from a tropical wave that emerged off Africa on July 21. After traversing the tropical Atlantic, the wave crossed Central America and entered the eastern Pacific on August 1. There, a favorable environment allowed it to become a tropical depression and a tropical storm shortly thereafter on August 8.
Tracking generally west-southwestward, the storm entered a stage of rapid deepening on August 10, despite forecasts of an only marginally favorable environment. On August 11, Flossie became a major hurricane, reaching its peak intensity with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h). With cooler sea surface temperatures and high wind shear in its path, the hurricane weakened steadily, deteriorating to a tropical depression by August 16. The storm's center became devoid of strong thunderstorms later that day, making Flossie no longer qualified as a tropical cyclone.
As a strong storm, Flossie prompted hurricane and tropical storm warnings for the Big Island of Hawaii. Residents were warned by emergency officials to prepare for over a foot of rainfall and wind gusts well within tropical storm force. However, impact was negligible; the peak wind gust on the Big Island of Hawaii reached 39 mph (63 km/h), and rainfall totals remained below 6 in (150 mm).
The formation of Hurricane Flossie is attributed to a poorly defined tropical wave that emerged off the western coast of Africa and into the eastern Atlantic Ocean on July 21. Tracking westward, the disturbance remained disorganized and lacked a significant amount of convection – shower and thunderstorm activity – near its center. The wave crossed Central America and entered the eastern Pacific on August 1, where it was met with a much more favorable atmospheric environment for organization and intensification. A consolidated area of shower and thunderstorms developed near the center while the system was situated just south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec on August 2, though no further development occurred thereafter. Two days later, an increase in deep convection was observed on conventional satellite imagery, but like the first, no further organization occurred. On August 6, yet another burst of convection developed near the low-level center, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) contemplated classifying the disturbance at that time, but yet another wane in shower and thunderstorm activity deferred this. The disturbance tracked westward through August 8, and following another deep burst of convection that persisted itself for an appreciable amount of time, had finally gathered enough organization to be classified as a tropical depression at 1800 UTC on August 8. At this time, the depression was situated roughly 1,700 mi (2,700 km) east-southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Within an environment characterized by low vertical wind shear as a result of an anticyclone aloft and warm sea surface temperatures, Tropical Depression Six-E continued its organizational trend, and was declared a tropical storm – earning the name Flossie – six hours after formation.
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