Erick (2019)

A tropical depression formed from a westward-moving tropical wave on 27 July 2019 about 1,000 nautical miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It became Tropical Storm Erick six hours later and moved generally west to west-northwest into the central Pacific. Erick slowly strengthened at first, then began rapid intensification on 29–30 July as environmental conditions became favorable. The storm reached peak strength on 30 July in the central Pacific, then weakened as it encountered stronger wind shear and moved south of the Island of Hawaii. Erick became a post-tropical remnant low by 5 August and dissipated well west of the Hawaiian Islands thereafter.

Erick did not make any landfalls. It passed about 170 nautical miles south of the Island of Hawaii on the morning of 2 August while it was weakening from a hurricane to a tropical storm. No coastal watches or warnings were issued for the U.S. or other land areas during Erick’s life.

The cyclone’s maximum sustained winds peaked at 115 knots (132 mph) and the minimum central pressure was 952 mb around 1800 UTC 30 July 2019. At peak intensity Erick was a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale in the central Pacific basin.

There were no reports of storm surge or significant coastal flooding associated with Erick in the Hawaiian Islands and no specific surge heights were recorded in the report. Rainfall and precipitation products were used in the analysis, but the report did not list notable rainfall totals at specific cities or counties tied to impacts from Erick.

No damage or casualties were reported in association with Erick. The storm’s most significant effects were confined to the open ocean as it intensified and later weakened while south of the Hawaiian Islands.

Noteworthy aspects include that Erick underwent a period of rapid intensification after entering the central Pacific, reaching major hurricane strength there. Its genesis was not well anticipated far in advance, and official track forecasts had larger-than-average errors early on with a bias of being too slow and too far north; however, the UKMET and ECMWF models performed well and some intensity forecasts successfully captured the rapid intensification phase.