page_title: Typhoon Halola
section_title: Wake Island
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Halola / Impact / Wake Island
caption_attribution_description: English: A C-17 Globemaster III aircrew from Hawaii Air National Guard evacuates more than 125 Department of Defense members from Wake Island to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, July 15, 2015. The members were evacuated here due to the potential storm surge from Typhoon Halola as it nears Wake Island. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alexa Ann Henderson/Released)
context_page_description: Typhoon Halola, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Goring, was a small but long-lived tropical cyclone in July 2015 that traveled 7,640 km across the Pacific Ocean. The fifth named storm of the 2015 Pacific hurricane season, Halola originated from a Western Pacific monsoon trough that had expanded into the Central Pacific by July 5. Over the next several days, the system waxed and waned due to changes in wind shear before organizing into a tropical depression on July 10 while well southwest of Hawaii. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Halola on the next day as it traveled westward. Halola crossed the International Date Line on July 13 and entered the Western Pacific, where it was immediately recognized as a severe tropical storm. The storm further strengthened into a typhoon over the next day before encountering strong wind shear on July 16, upon which it quickly weakened into a tropical depression as it passed south of Wake Island. However, the shear relaxed on July 19, allowing Halola to reintensify. On July 21, Halola regained typhoon status and later peaked with 10-minute sustained winds of 150 km/h and a minimum pressure of 955 hPa.
context_section_description: Typhoon Halola was the first significant threat to Wake Island since Hurricane Ioke in 2006, which caused tremendous damage and forced the closure of the island for three months. The Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness (TCCOR) level was raised to 3—indicating winds of 93 km/h (58 mph) or higher were possible within 48 hours—by 2:00 p.m. local time on July 14. That day, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from the Hawaii Air National Guard was used to evacuate 125 Department of Defense personnel deployed on Wake Island due to the threat of storm surge. The evacuees were brought to Anderson Air Force Base on Guam. The TCCOR was raised to level 2—indicating winds of 93 km/h (58 mph) or higher were expected within 48 hours—on July 15. Warnings were discontinued as the storm weakened and moved away from the island the following day.
  Members of the 36th Contingency Response Group and the 353d Special Operations Group were parachuted onto the island on July 18 to conduct damage assessments and clear the airfield of debris. Little, if any, damage was incurred according to their assessments. The airfield was re-opened on July 20 and personnel resumed normal operations.
caption: The C-17 Globemaster III aircraft used for the evacuation of Wake Island
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