The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th.
The costliest hurricane in Hawaii’s history, Hurricane Iniki, originated in the eastern Pacific as Tropical Depression Eighteen-E on Sept. 5, 1992. The depression then crossed over into the central Pacific Ocean basin to the west of 140W longitude where it became a tropical storm and eventually a powerful hurricane. Again, note that track was initially well south of Hawaii, before it curled north.
The island of Kauai was especially hard hit by damaging winds. Along the southern coast, many structures were wiped out by storm surge flooding and large, battering waves.
Other hurricanes that have had significant direct impacts on Hawaii in the last six decades were Nina (1957), Dot (1959) and Iwa (1982). Iniki is the only one of the four that officially originated as a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin. It’s possible that Dot also originated in the eastern Pacific, but because of poor data over the oceans in 1959, this cannot be confirmed.
Hurricane Flossie in 2007 is an example of a tropical cyclone that originated in the eastern Pacific and was aimed at the Big Island of Hawaii before it weakened dramatically due to wind shear. Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings were issued since Flossie was forecast to maintain hurricane intensity as it arrived in the vicinity of the Big Island. Thankfully, Flossie weakened quicker than anticipated, resulting in minimal impacts outside of high surf and winds to 39 mph.
August is the peak month for tropical cyclones in the central Pacific basin, chalking up twice as many (74) as September (37) from 1971-2013, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Unlike the Atlantic Basin, July is the second most active month (45) in the central Pacific basin.