Dora The Explorer: Recent Hurricane Had Incredible Journey

A recent hurricane was dubbed
"Dora The Explorer" for its
long trek through two
oceans. 

Hurricane Dora popped up in the news in a tragic way.

It, and a high pressure system far to its north, helped created the strong winds on Maui that led to those those horrible wildfires. The death toll is now a horrible 106 people, and could easily rise further. 

Far less importantly, but pretty interesting nonetheless is the incredibly long journey Dora and its earlier ingredients as a tropical disturbance took.  The storm had such a long journey that it was inevitable dubbed Dora the Explorer.   

Hurricane experts first noticed what would become Dora on July 17, just off the west coast of Africa.  It moved westward across the Atlantic, briefly almost becoming a tropical storm or at least tropical depression on July 22 before reaching the Central American coast around July 28.  

Upper level winds over the Atlantic Ocean prevented wannabe Dora from becoming a tropical storm. And, being over the Atlantic, had it become a tropical storm, it would have been named Emily.

Anyway, wannabe Dora crossed over the mountains of Central America and landed over the Pacific Ocean on July 29.  Conditions were far more conducive for development over the Pacific, so by August 1, Dora became a hurricane and began its long trek westward across the Pacific Ocean. 

Dora was a beast over the open Pacific Ocean, lasting at least four days as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 150 mph near its eye. 

Last Friday, Dora became only the second hurricane on record to survive a trip across the eastern, central and now western Pacific basin, as the Washington Post noted. 

The only other hurricane known to accomplish this feat was Hurricane John in 1994.  Most hurricanes sputter out in the central Pacific Ocean because the water is cooler there, the air is often drier, and wind shear that's common in that area usually tears hurricanes apart. 

One possible reason why Dora was so persistent was its construction.  Most hurricanes look like spirals.  Dora was known as an annular hurricane. That means on satellite photos it looked more like a doughnut than a spiral.

Annular hurricanes like Dora can fend off dry air intrusions and upper level winds that would otherwise rip a hurricane apart. 

On Friday, Dora crossed the International Date Line at 180 degrees longitude. That put it in the western Pacific basin. Since it was now on the Asian side of the Pacific, it forced a rename: It was now Typhoon Dora, not Hurricane Dora. 

Last we checked, Typhoon Dora was finally weakening into a tropical storm somewhere in the western Pacific Ocean.