Hector formed southwest of Mexico, moved westward and dissipated over colder water southwest of Baja California. The remnants of Hector passed over the Hawaiian Islands several days later, producing heavy rain over most of the island chain.
a. Synoptic history
Hector developed from a tropical wave that moved off the African coast late on 29 July, accompanied by 24-h pressure falls of about 4.0 mb. The wave maintained little deep convection as it moved across the central Atlantic Ocean at about 15 knots. Convection increased when the wave interacted with an upper-level trough in the central Caribbean Sea on 4 August, but the upper-level winds remained unfavorable for tropical cyclone formation while the wave moved into Central America.
The tropical wave slowed and moved across Mexico, emerging into the eastern Pacific Ocean on 9 August. Deep convection increased significantly when the wave moved off the coast and cloud-banding features began to develop on the morning of 10 August. It is estimated that a tropical depression formed at 1800 UTC 10 August about 160 n mi southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. The system developed under northeasterly shear. However, banding features became more distinct on the evening of 11 August and satellite estimates indicated that the depression had reached tropical storm status.
Hector slowly became more organized except the outflow which remained restricted in the northern semicircle. A strong ridge to the north steered the storm generally westward about 10 knots into a more favorable upper-level environment for strengthening. It developed a Central Dense Overcast and a "ragged eye" began to appear on visible satellite pictures. The storm became a hurricane at 0000 UTC 14 August and it is estimated that the hurricane peaked in intensity around 1200 UTC 14 August while crossing the 26 C sea surface temperature isotherm. Hector rapidly weakened after it took a brief northwest track into much cooler water and less favorable upper-level winds. Most of the deep convection associated with Hector had weakened by 1800 UTC 15 August. Hector dissipated the next day and its remnants moved westward. On 20 August, the remnants interacted with an upper-trough near the Hawaiian Islands producing locally heavy rain and some thunderstorms.
The best track is listed in Table 1 and is plotted in Fig. 1.
b. Meteorological statistics
Figure 2 and Figure 3 shows the best track curves and maximum sustained 1-min surface winds and minimum central pressure data, respectively, as functions of time. These plots include Dvorak satellite classification estimates and early pressure estimates from synoptic analyses. SSM/I and TRMM microwave data were included in the analyses. The storm's remnants produced locally heavy rainfall over the Hawaiian Islands.
c. Casualties and damages
No casualties or damages were associated with Hector.
d. Forecast and warning critique
The official average track forecast error for Hector ranged from 74 n mi at 24 hours to 183 n mi at 48 hours to 290 n mi at 72 hours (5 cases only). The error at 24 hours is near the most recent ten-year average error, while the forecast error at 48 and 72 hours is considerably above the average error. However, this average is over five cases only and might not be representative.
Table 1. Best track for Hurricane Hector, 10-16 August 2000. Date/Time
(UTC)Position Pressure
(mb)Wind Speed
(kt)Stage Lat. (°N) Lon. (°W) 10/1800 17.8 106.6 1006 25 tropical depression 11/0000 17.7 108.1 1005 25 " 11/0600 17.9 109.2 1003 25 " 11/1200 18.1 110.4 1003 30 " 11/1800 18.3 111.7 1003 30 " 12/0000 18.5 112.9 1002 35 tropical storm 12/0600 18.5 114.1 1001 40 " 12/1200 18.4 115.1 999 45 " 12/1800 18.2 115.8 997 50 " 13/0000 18.1 116.5 996 50 " 13/0600 18.2 117.2 994 55 " 13/1200 18.2 117.7 993 55 " 13/1800 18.3 118.1 990 60 " 14/0000 18.4 118.4 986 65 hurricane 14/0600 18.7 118.9 985 65 " 14/1200 19.1 119.3 983 70 " 14/1800 19.5 119.9 984 70 " 15/0000 20.0 120.5 987 65 " 15/0600 20.3 121.2 990 60 tropical storm 15/1200 20.3 122.1 994 55 " 15/1800 20.2 123.0 998 45 " 16/0000 20.0 123.9 1000 35 " 16/0600 20.0 125.0 1004 30 tropical depression 16/1200 20.0 126.6 1005 25 " 16/1800 20.0 128.0 1006 25 " 14/1200 19.1 119.3 983 70 minimum pressure
Figure 1. Best track positions for Hurricane Hector, 10-16 August 2000.
Figure 2. Best track maximum sustained surface wind speed curve for Hurricane Hector, 10-16 August 2000.
Figure 3. Best track minimum central pressure curve for Hurricane Hector, 10-16 August 2000.
