After causing strong winds that rapidly spread wildfires in Hawaii (USA), Typhoon Dora has made a remarkable journey across the Pacific Ocean and is now approaching Asia. Dora has made its mark in history for several reasons during this unusual long journey, even prompting a change in its naming convention due to its trans-oceanic path.
Before it was named, Typhoon Dora was initially just a cluster of clouds over the Atlantic Ocean. It began to form around July 17 as small thunderstorms and subsequently caused strong winds that accelerated the wildfires in Maui (Hawaii, USA). Now, Dora has traveled a total of nearly 16,000 kilometers, according to Hawaii News Now.
During its trans-oceanic journey of approximately 8,400 kilometers to the eastern side of Asia, Typhoon Dora intensified, weakened, and then intensified again. Regardless, it has been remarkably “persistent” and has not made landfall anywhere.
Typhoon Dora’s long journey from the Eastern to the Western Pacific. (Photo: Zoom Earth).
Typhoon Dora has crossed the International Date Line (an imaginary line where the date changes when crossed). Now, instead of being referred to as Hurricane Dora, it is now called Typhoon Dora, as the term hurricane refers to tropical storms formed in the North Atlantic, while typhoon refers to storms in the Pacific. Dora is the second storm recorded to have crossed the International Date Line, the first being Hurricane John in 1994.
Typhoon Dora crosses the International Date Line – it is the second storm to achieve this. (Photo: Fox News).
Typhoon Dora has also made history as the longest-lasting Category 4 storm (on the U.S. scale, the second-highest category, with sustained winds of 209 – 251 km/h) in the Pacific. Some newspapers even refer to Dora as the “longest-lived storm”.
According to The Washington Post, most storms that originate in the Eastern Pacific weaken once they reach the mid-ocean due to cooler ocean waters and drier air. However, unusually, Dora has strengthened and continues to glide along.
Interestingly, another storm named Dora in August 1999 also maintained its strength while traveling from the Eastern Pacific to the mid-ocean, but it weakened before reaching the International Date Line, unlike Dora 2023.
Strong winds from Typhoon Dora contribute to the rapid spread of wildfires in Hawaii. (Photo: Ty O’Neil/AP).
As of the evening of August 14, Typhoon Dora was still heading toward East Asia, nearing Japan, with winds of about 75 km/h. However, current forecasts predict it will weaken around August 16-17, meaning it will have lasted a full month without making landfall.
Meanwhile, another storm named Typhoon Lan is forecasted to make landfall in Japan on August 15.
