Hawaii largely dodges one-two storm punch
Source: AP-EXCITE
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and AUDREY McAVOY
HONOLULU (AP) — The one-two hurricane punch that was supposed to hit Hawaii is looking more like a jab and a missed left hook.
After Hawaii cleared Tropical Storm Iselle largely without deterring sunbathers and surfers, the state looked toward Hurricane Julio, which was expected to pass roughly 160 miles northeast of the islands at its closest point early Sunday and linger near the state into Monday.
While prospects for Julio could quickly change, the storms appear to have been more a scare for Hawaii than a significant threat.
"This was no Sandy or Katrina or any other storm that you remember the name of," said Sylvia Dahlby, 58, of Hilo, on the Big Island. The Big Island took the brunt of a weakening Iselle on Thursday night and early Friday. By late Friday night, the National Weather Service announced that it had canceled all storm watches and warnings for the state.
FULL story at link.
Rain falls on Diamond Head and Waikiki in Honolulu on the island of Oahu on Friday, Aug, 8, 2014. Iselle came ashore onto the Big Island early Friday as a weakened tropical storm, while Hurricane Julio, close behind it, strengthened and is forecasted to pass north of the islands. Iselle is the first tropical storm to hit the state in 22 years. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140809/us--tropical_weather-8971d1b49e.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
but wait ... was it really? 
The Atlantic they were Hurricanes, but in the Pacific they are called Typhoons?? 
West of the International Date Line, I suppose. In the East Pacific, they are still called hurricanes. (And in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, they are cyclones.) They're all the same type of storm, though. Why they have different names depending on where they form, I don't know.
but way further west, it's a typhoon.
NOAA put out a FAQ with their definitions -
A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).
Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) are usually called "tropical depressions" (This is not to be confused with the condition mid-latitude people get during a long, cold and grey winter wishing they could be closer to the equator
. Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) they are typically called a "tropical storm" or in Australia a Category 1 cyclone and are assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph), then they are called:
"hurricane" (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E)
"typhoon" (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)
"severe tropical cyclone" or "Category 3 cyclone" and above (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160°E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90°E)
"very severe cyclonic storm" (the North Indian Ocean)
"tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Indian Ocean)
(Neumann 1993).
Last updated : July 15, 2011
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/A1.html
Am glad that Hawai'i was spared the brunt. I was there back in '86 a few years after Iwa tore through the islands and when I traveled to Kaua'i, the guide showed us how the ferns on the fern grotto were just starting to return. I think Iniki in the '90s tore them all out again.
it was 22 years ago. So grateful the two hurricanes out in the Pacific have not caused too much damage on shore. And, may that continue to be. 
