ISBN: | 978-5-5106-1252-3 |
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hurricane Hector was the ninth tropical cyclone of the 2006 Pacific hurricane season. Hector originated from a tropical wave that emerged from the western coast of Africa on July 31. The wave was ill-defined, while traversing the Atlantic Ocean, but became more active as it entered the Caribbean Sea. On August 10, the wave crossed Central America an entered the Eastern Pacific basin. The shower and thunderstorm activity within the wave began to increase, strengthening the wave into a low-pressure system on August 13. Dvorak classifications were initiated on August 15 as the system became more convective. The low-pressure system was designated Tropical Depression Nine-E on August 15. It moved west-northwestward to the south of a mid-level ridge, and the depression quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Hector on August 16. Wind shear was moderate in the area, but Hector was able to strengthen into a hurricane on August 17. Hector reached its peak intensity of 95.5 knots (109.9 mph) on August 18 at 0600 UTC. Hector maintained Category 2 status for 24 hours, encountering cooler sea temperatures soon after. Along with wind shear, the cooler temperatures caused Hector to weaken. Hector fell below hurricane strength on August 20, as convection became limited to the northeast corner of the storm.