Pacific hurricaneA Pacific hurricane is a tropical cyclone that develops within the northeastern and central Pacific Ocean to the east of 180°W, north of the equator.
Hurricane Olivia (1982)Hurricane Olivia was a powerful and destructive Category 4 hurricane, that brought damaging floods to California and Utah during September 1982. Olivia was the twenty-fourth tropical cyclone, eighteenth named storm, ninth hurricane, and fourth major hurricane of the active 1982 Pacific hurricane season. The storm was first noted as a tropical depression from a ship report off the southern coast of Mexico.
Tropical cyclone namingTropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the event of concurrent storms in the same basin.
Hurricane IwaHurricane Iwa, taken from the Hawaiian language name for the frigatebird (ʻiwa, lit. "Thief"), was at the time the costliest hurricane to affect the state of Hawaii. Iwa was the twenty-third tropical storm and the twelfth and final hurricane of the 1982 Pacific hurricane season. It developed from an active trough of low pressure near the equator on November 19.
Hurricane PaulHurricane Paul was a devastating tropical cyclone which killed a total of 1,625 people and caused US$520 million in damage, ranking it as the second deadliest Pacific hurricane on record, behind the 1959 Mexico Hurricane. The sixteenth named storm and tenth hurricane of the 1982 Pacific hurricane season, Paul developed as a tropical depression just offshore Central America on September 18.
140th meridian westLine of longitude 140° 140th meridian west (interactive map) The meridian 140° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The line is the divider in the area of warning responsibility between the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in the north Pacific Ocean.
Saffir–Simpson scaleThe Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) is a tropical cyclone intensity scale that classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms—into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. This measuring system was formerly known as the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, or SSHS.
Central AmericaSubregion of North AmericaCentral America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, and also, in specialized contexts, including Mexico.
1982–1983 El Niño eventThe 1982–1983 El Niño event was one of the strongest El Niño events since records were kept. It led to droughts in Indonesia and Australia, widespread flooding across the southern United States, lack of snow in the northern United States, and an anomalously warm winter across much of the mid-latitude regions of North America and Eurasia. The estimated global economic impact was over US$8 billion, though more recent work has upward revised this number to be $4.1 trillion.
United States dollarCurrency of the United StatesThe United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States (U.S.) and several other countries. The U.S. Coinage Act of 1792 established the dollar as the base unit, with each dollar divided into 100 cents (symbol: ¢). U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color.
Western United StatesOne of the four census regions of the USRegion in the United StatesThe Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is one of the four census regionsdefined by the United States Census Bureau.As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term the West changed. Before around 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier.
El SalvadorEl Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a sovereign nation in Central America. Situated along the Pacific coast, it is bounded by Guatemala to the northwest and Honduras to the northeast. The country's political, economic, and cultural center is its capital and largest municipality, San Salvador. As of 2024, El Salvador's population was estimated at approximately 6 million inhabitants.
NiʻihauNiʻihau, sometimes written Niihau, is the seventh largest island in Hawaii and the westernmost of the main islands. It is 17.5 miles (28.2 km) southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is 69.5 square miles (180 km). Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian stilt, and the Hawaiian duck.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.