Hurricane Dora makes history with its bizarre path across the ocean, from the Americas to near Asia

After unleashing strong winds that quickly spread wildfires in Hawaii, Hurricane Dora has made an extraordinary journey across the Pacific Ocean, now approaching Asia. Dora has made history for many reasons on this unusually long journey, and people have even had to change its name because it crossed the ocean.

Before being named, Hurricane Dora was initially just a cluster of clouds gathering over the Atlantic Ocean. From its beginnings around July 17 as small thunderstorms, then causing strong winds that quickly spread wildfires in Maui (Hawaii, USA), to now, Dora has 'traveled' a total of nearly 16,000km, according to Hawaii News Now .

On its way across the ocean - about 8,400km - to near East Asia, Typhoon Dora strengthened, weakened, and then strengthened again, but in any case, it was still very 'persistent' and did not make landfall anywhere.

Hurricane Dora's long path, from the east to the west of the Pacific Ocean. (Photo: Zoom Earth).

Then Dora crossed the International Date Line (an imaginary line that changes the date when vehicles cross it) . And now instead of calling it Hurricane Dora , people are calling it Typhoon Dora , because the word hurricane refers to a tropical storm that forms in the North Atlantic, and typhoon refers to a storm in the Pacific. Dora is only the second storm to cross the International Date Line since records began. The other storm to accomplish this 'miracle' was Hurricane John in 1994.

Hurricane Dora crossed the International Date Line — only the second storm to do so. (Photo: Fox News).

Hurricane Dora also made history as the longest -lived Category 4 storm in the Pacific Ocean, with some newspapers calling it the 'longest-lived storm'.

According to The Washington Post , most storms that move from the eastern Pacific weaken once they reach the middle of the ocean because the ocean water is cooler and the air is drier there. However, unusually, Dora strengthened and just kept going.

Ironically, another storm in August 1999, also named Dora, also maintained its strength as it traveled from the eastern Pacific to the center of the ocean, but it weakened before reaching the International Date Line and did not maintain its strength as long as 2023's Dora.

Strong winds from Hurricane Dora are a factor in the rapid spread of wildfires in Hawaii. (Photo: Ty O'Neil/ AP).

As of the evening of August 14, Typhoon Dora was still moving towards East Asia, nearing Japan, with winds of about 75km/h. But according to current forecasts, it will weaken around August 16-17, meaning it will last for a whole month, without making landfall.

Meanwhile, another storm, Typhoon Lan, is forecast to make landfall in Japan on August 15.