page_title: Hurricane Fefa
section_title: Impact and retirement
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Fefa / Impact and retirement
caption_attribution_description: The Pacific Ocean below can be seen looking down through the eye of Hurricane Fefa (exact location unknown). Fefa was a very strong Pacific Hurricane with a superb tightly formed eye. The tighter the eye in a circular storm, the stronger the winds within the gyre. At the time of this exposure, Fefa was located about midway between the California coast and Hawaii. Fefa dissipated at sea, failing to make landfall, and did no property damage. NASA photo ID: STS043-608-018.
context_page_description: Hurricane Fefa was a major Pacific hurricane of the 1991 Pacific hurricane season that despite causing minimal effects its name was removed from the list of tropical cyclone names. The sixth tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, the storm developed from a tropical wave on July 29 about 975 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas. It moved west-northwestward, and under generally favorable conditions it strengthened to attain peak winds of 120 mph on August 2. Fefa turned to the west towards Hawaii, and slowly weakened until dissipating near the island of Hawaii.
  The hurricane produced rough surf, moderate wind gusts, and locally heavy rainfall during its passage over Hawaii. No damages or deaths were reported. Two people were injured in the island of Hawaii due to lightning strikes from the storm.
context_section_description: The prolonged westward track of Hurricane Fefa produced swells of up to 15 feet (4.5 m) in height. The swells hit eastward facing beaches along the island of Hawaii. The swells washed debris and sea water onto coastal roads near Punaluu Black Sand Beach, resulting in the roads being closed following the storm. Southwestern Maui experienced rough surf, as well. Despite being a weak tropical depression and a tropical wave while moving through the Hawaiian Islands, Fefa produced locally strong wind gusts of up to 50 mph (80 km/h) in the islands of Hawaii and Maui.
  Prior to moving across the island of Hawaii, strong thunderstorms developed in the northeastern portion of the remnant circulation of Fefa. The thunderstorms developed further as they moved over the slopes of Mauna Kea and Kohala. The thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall in areas, resulting in flash flooding in Kohala and Hamakua. Hurricane Fefa resulted in no known deaths. Lightning from the storm caused two injuries. A man in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was hurt when lightning struck where he was walking. A man in Hilo was burnt when lightning moved through telephone wires. The storm resulted in no reported damage.
  The name Fefa was removed after this storm and replaced with Felicia in the 1997 season. The reason for the name retirement is unknown, as the storm itself caused little damage. Possible reasons listed for the removal of the name are pronunciation ambiguity, a socially unacceptable meaning in another language, or because the storm name represented a significant human disaster.
caption: Image of Fefa as a hurricane.
exif: {}