Hurricane John, also known as Typhoon John, was the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone ever observed worldwide. It was also the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record globally at the time, until it was surpassed by Cyclone Freddy in 2023. and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale, the highest categorization for hurricanes.

Over the course of its existence, John followed a path from the eastern Pacific to the western Pacific and back to the central Pacific, lasting 31 days in total. Because it existed in both the eastern and western Pacific, John was one of a small number of tropical cyclones to be designated as both a hurricane and a typhoon. Despite lasting for a full month, John barely affected land at all, bringing only minimal effects to the Hawaiian Islands and the United States military base on Johnston Atoll. Its remnants later affected Alaska.

Meteorological history

The origins of Hurricane John were attributed by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) to a tropical wave that left the African coast on July 25, 1994. The wave subsequently moved across the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea without distinction before it crossed Central America and moved into the Eastern Pacific Ocean on or around August 8. At this time, the system was moving westwards and was located about to the south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. Also, on August 22 (by Hawaii Standard Time), John made its closest approach to the Hawaiian Islands, to the south. John had threatened to turn north and affect the islands days before, but the ridge of high pressure that typically shields the islands from hurricanes kept John on its southerly path. Nonetheless, heavy rains and wind from the outer bands of John affected the islands.

thumb|Typhoon John shortly after crossing the [[International Date Line on August 28]]

Clearing Johnston Atoll, John turned to the northwest and began strengthening again as shear decreased. On August 27 local time, John reached a secondary peak strength of 130 mph (215 km/h), and shortly thereafter it crossed the International Date Line at approximately 22° N and came under the surveillance of the Guam branch of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). By crossing into the western Pacific, John also became a typhoon and was referred to as Typhoon John during its time in the western Pacific. John's global record stood until 2023, when it was broken by Cyclone Freddy, which traversed the Indian Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere for 36 days.

Additionally, despite its slow movement throughout much of its path, John was also the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone in both the Pacific Ocean and globally, with a distance traveled of , ahead of 2023's Cyclone Freddy, with a distance traveled of 12,785 km (7,945 mi), or about 33% of the Earth's circumference,

Pressure readings from John's peak are not consistently available as the CPHC did not monitor pressures at the time, but Air Force Reserve aircraft did measure a surface pressure of 929 mbar (hPa), making John one of the most intense hurricanes recorded in the central Pacific; both hurricanes Emilia and Gilma of 1994, as well as hurricanes Ioke of 2006 and Lane and Walaka of 2018 all recorded lower pressures in the central Pacific. However, all five had lower wind speeds than John. (Intensity is measured by minimum central pressure, which correlates with but is not directly linked to wind speeds.) John was also only the fourth Category 5 hurricane recorded in the central Pacific (the first was Hurricane Patsy in 1959, the second was Hurricane Emilia and the third one was Hurricane Gilma, both earlier in 1994). John also possessed the highest recorded wind speed in a central Pacific hurricane, , a record shared with the aforementioned Patsy of 1959. Additionally, heavy rains on the Big Island of Hawaii caused minor, localized flooding and some short-term road closures. No deaths, injuries or significant damages were reported in Hawaii. Additionally, in the Northern Hemisphere, the strongest winds and heaviest rain lie to the north of a tropical cyclone, so the atoll, which lay to the south of the storm's path, was spared the brunt of the storm. Nonetheless, the 1,100-man personnel for the United States military base on Johnston Atoll had been evacuated to Honolulu as a precaution while John approached. Damage to structures was considerable, but the size of the island and relative functionality of the base led to low damage; monetary losses were estimated at close to $15 million (1994 US$).

See also

  • Other storms of the same name
  • List of Alaska tropical cyclones
  • 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane – The longest-lived tropical cyclone recorded in the Atlantic Ocean
  • Cyclone Leon–Eline (2000) – The second longest-lived tropical cyclone recorded in the Indian Ocean
  • Cyclone Freddy (2023) – The longest-lived tropical cyclone recorded worldwide

Other powerful hurricanes that crossed the International Date Line:

  • Hurricane Dora (1999)
  • Hurricane Ioke (2006)
  • Hurricane Genevieve (2014)
  • Hurricane Hector (2018)
  • Hurricane Dora (2023)

References

  • The National Hurricane Center's report on Hurricane John
  • The Central Pacific Hurricane Center's report on Hurricane John
  • 1994 Tropical Cyclones, Central North Pacific
  • The Joint Typhoon Warning Center's 1994 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report