Hurricane Ioke (alsoTyphoon Ioke, international designation0612, JTWC designation01C also sometimes calledSuper Typhoon Ioke) is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the CentralPacific. The first storm to form in the Central Pacific in the2006 Pacific hurricane season, Ioke is a long-lived and extremely powerful storm that traversed the Pacific, reaching Category 5 status twice as a hurricane. As a typhoon, Ioke managed to achieve Category 5-equivalent one-minute sustained winds one more time before weakening.

Ioke did not affect any permanently populated areas in the Central Pacific or Western Pacific basins as a hurricane or a typhoon, but the storm passed overJohnston Atoll as aCategory 2 hurricane andWake Island as a Category 5 typhoon. Despite its strength, Ioke only caused moderate damage to Wake Island, and was not responsible for any fatalities.

The system began in the third week ofAugust as a persistent tropical disturbance south of theHawaiian Islands. It was initially embedded in atrough, but gained convection and developed into a tropical depression about 775 miles south ofHonolulu onAugust 19. It continued to strengthen, and theCentral Pacific Hurricane Center designated the system with the nameIoke (IPA /iːˈəʊ.keɪ/), which isHawaiian for the nameJoyce,^[1] becoming the first tropical storm to form in the Central Pacific since2002.

Ioke quickly began to enter a process ofrapid development; strengthening into a hurricane just 24 hours after it had formed. While safely avoiding the Hawaiian Islands, it continued to rapidly intensify and became a major hurricane (Category 3 or greater) on the morning ofAugust 21. Later that day, Ioke intensified even further into a Category 4 hurricane. OnAugust 22, it began to weaken as a result of cooler water andeyewall replacement cycle, and was downgraded back to a Category 2. As a Category 2 storm, Ioke affectedJohnston Atoll.

The storm began to rapidly deepen again late onAugust 23 as it moved over increasingly warm water, reaching major hurricane status for the second time while moving to the west-northwest. From there, conditions would become even more favorable for development.

Overnight betweenAugust 24 andAugust 25, Ioke strengthened rapidly, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the 25th - the first system originating from the Central Pacific to reach that intensity while still in theWestern Hemisphere. Ioke then began to travel over a large environment highly favorable for hurricane development, and would maintain its strength for an extended period of time. Ioke also became the most intense hurricane ever to develop in the Central Pacific, with a central pressure of 921 mbar (27.19 inHg) at that point (which dropped to 920 mbar at its Central Pacific peak).

Ioke began to fluctuate in intensity afterward; weakened back to a Category 4 while undergoing aneyewall replacement cycle, regaining Category 5 strength onAugust 26. Ioke held that intensity until crossing theInternational Date Line that evening (August 27 after the crossover), becoming Typhoon Ioke in the process. The storm weakened to Category 4 strength according to theJTWC, but by 2100 UTC onAugust 29, the JTWC advised that Ioke had regained Category 5 strength for the third time.

After maintaining Category 5 strength for 12 hours, Ioke weakened back to a Category 4 for the final time onAugust 30 while approachingWake Island. Ioke passed almost directly over the island on earlySeptember 1 and continued tracking to the west-northwest while slowly weakening over gradually cooling waters. OnSeptember 3, under the influence of an approachingtrough, the typhoon began to recurve to the northwest, then to the north and away from Japan, while weakening more rapidly. Ioke began to transition into anextratropical storm late onSeptember 4 due to increasedwind shear and rapidly cooling seas, and the JTWC issued its last advisory at 1200 UTC onSeptember 5 after it was decided that Ioke had begun extratropical transition. The JMA followed suit early onSeptember 7 after Ioke had become completely extratropical east of theKamchatka Peninsula.

The remnant extratropical low is currently monitored by National Weather Service and is expected to be near Alaska in 48 hours.^[2]

• Ioke was the first Category 5 hurricane ever to form in the Central Pacific and reach that intensity while still in the Central Pacific. It was also only the fifth Category 5 hurricane on record in the Central Pacific (the other four formed in the Eastern or Western Pacific), and the first one sinceHurricane John in 1994.^[3]
• Ioke was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Central Pacific with a recorded pressure at its peak of 920 mbar (27.179 inHg).^[3]
• Ioke tied Hurricane Emilia of1994 by reaching Category 5 status twice, both as hurricanes in the Northern Pacific east of theInternational Date Line. Ioke would go on to restrengthen to a Category 5-equivalent typhoon.
• Ioke spent longer at Category 4 and higher than any other Central or East Pacific hurricane with a total of 34 (31 consecutive) 6 hourly reports at that strength. The previous record was held byHurricane Paka with 27 (25 consecutive) 6 hourly reports.^[source?]

Despite Ioke's extreme intensity and impacting two small land masses, damage was surprisingly moderate. Little damage was done onJohnston Atoll, and damage toinfrastructure onWake Island was less than expected, despite Ioke's eyewall brushing the island.

TheNational Weather Service reported that the eastern eyewall of Ioke passed over the uninhabitedJohnston Atoll,^[4] buffeting it with hurricane-force winds.

Twelve people on aUnited States Air Force vessel in the Pacific were forced to abandon ship and take shelter in a hurricane-proof bunker on the island.^[5] They were reported safe the next day, and a reconnaissance flight reported little damage on the island.^[6]

Due to Typhoon Ioke's projected path nearWake Island, all 188 people who live and work there were evacuated in twoC-17 Globemaster IIIs toOahu inHawaii.^[7] The typhoon's powerful winds, estimated to gust as high as 190 mph, damaged weather sensors on the island, causing them to fail after the instruments reported a 100 mph gust.^[8] A reconnaissance mission by the Coast Guard indicated the typhoon caused moderate damage on the island, including blown off roofs, damaged sides of buildings, and downed trees. However, the damage was repairable, and the major infrastructure on the island was intact.^[9]

The JMA issued evacuation orders for its staff onMinami Torishima onSeptember 1 in view of the approaching typhoon,^[10] but so far, no damage has been reported.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHurricane Ioke.

• 2006 Pacific hurricane season
• East Pacific hurricanes
• Retired tropical cyclone names

• CS1 maint: archived copy as title
• All articles with dead links to other websites
• Articles with dead links to other websites from January 2021
• Articles with permanently dead links to other websites
• CS1 errors: numeric name
• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
• Articles with Japanese-language sources (ja)
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009
• Commons category link from Wikidata