2020 Pacific hurricane season (JavaHurricane)

The 2020 Pacific hurricane season was another hyperactive season, continuing the sequence of active seasons in place since 2014. It featured 30 depressions, all of which became tropical storms. A record-breaking 21 hurricanes formed, of which 16 became major hurricanes, another record for the Eastern Pacific basin. The season also accumulated a total of 488 ACE units, beating the previous record holder, 2018, by far. The Eastern Pacific naming list for the year was exhausted due to the extreme activity, leading to the usage of the Greek alphabet for naming for the first time ever; however, only five tropical cyclones affected land, one of which made landfall, and damage totals remained very low, in spite of the record-breaking activity. Activity occurred in the off season as well.

Seasonal forecasts
Forecast summary will be out soon.

Season summary
NOTE : Timeline under construction

The first storm of the season, Hurricane Ema, formed over the Central Pacific on April 11. Over the next few days, the storm moved westwards, strengthened gradually, and crossed the International Date Line (IDL) on April 20, as a Category 2 hurricane.

Shortly after the official beginning of the season, a flurry of storms occured over the Eastern Pacific: six storms developed over a period of 5 weeks, all of which became hurricanes. Four of them - Amanda, Boris, Douglas and Elida went on to cross into the Western Pacific. All the storms formed south of Mexico and moved westwards, well south of Hawaii, due to a strong ridge existing over the Eastern and Central Pacific, while strengthening due to anomalously warm waters and low wind shear.

Activity slowed down in July as a result of upwelling of cold waters by the powerful storms; only 3 storms formed, of which one, Genevieve, strengthened into a major hurricane. The other two storms, Hernan and Iselle, were weak, short-lived tropical cyclones.

Activity dramatically increased in August, with 6 cyclones forming. The record activity continued into September and October, with 10 storms forming during these months. However, only 3 storms formed in November, two of which persisted into December. The final tropical cyclone of the year, Hurricane Alpha, formed near 140W on 29 December, intensified into a Category 4 hurricane over the Central Pacific, and crossed the International Date Line on 7 January 2021, bringing a record-breaking season to a close.

Hurricane Amanda
On 1 May, the NHC began to issue special TWOs for a disturbance located near Central America, expecting significant development in 5 days. The disturbance tracked slowly westwards over the next few days, as it failed to organize due to high wind shear from a nearby region of high pressure. By 11 May, the wind shear relaxed, allowing the disturbance to gradually coalesce. On 16 May, the NHC began issuing advisories on Tropical Depression One-E, while it was located 285 nm southwest of Acapulco, Mexico. Twelve hours later, the storm was upgraded to Tropical Storm Amanda after ASCAT data indicated gale-force winds. Over the next three days, the cyclone moved westwards while gradually intensifying. On 19 May, Amanda was upgraded to hurricane strength, while located 995 miles WSW of Socorro Island. At the same time, Amanda began to rapidly strengthen; the cyclone's intensity increased 60 kt (70 mph; 110 kmph) in a 24 hour time period, and the cyclone strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane. Intensification slowed down thereafter the cyclone was plagued by dry air. On 20 May, Amanda crossed into Central Pacific. On 26 May, Amanda strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane while located 250 miles northwest of Johnston Atoll, but weakened shortly thereafter due to an eyewall replacement cycle and moderate shear. After weakening to 120 kt, the cyclone entered a more favourable environment on 30 May. Rapid strengthening ensued, and Amanda reached winds of 150 kt and a pressure of 910 mbar on June 1, immediately before crossing into the Western Pacific, thus becoming the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Central Pacific.

Tropical Storm Hone
On 1 August, the CPHC began to track a region of disturbed weather located near Johnston Atoll for potential development. Over the next few days, the low tracked westwards and organized, prompting the CPHC to issue advisories on Tropical Depression Two-C on 4 August. The storm strengthened into Tropical Storm Hone the following day. The storm moved out of the basin on August 6, and went on to become a powerful typhoon in the Western Pacific.

Eastern Pacific
The following names were used to name storms that formed in the northeastern Pacific Ocean during 2014. No names were retired by the WMO in the spring of 2021, so all the names from this list will be used again in the 2026 season. This is the same list used in the 2014 season with the exception of Odalys, which replaced Odile; the name Odalys was used for the first time this year.

Due to the extreme activity, the name "Alpha" (from the Greek alphabet) was used after the naming list was exhausted.

Central Pacific
The CPHC hs its own rotating naming list for storms that form between 140W and the International Date Line. Five storm names were used this season. No name was retired.

Storm effects
TBD

Records
TBD