On July 24, the SS Pacificus encountered a storm with maximum sustained winds meeting the threshold of tropical storm status roughly 1,000 mi (1,600 km) west of the Baja California Peninsula.
Despite reports that the location of the system remained vague, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began issuing tropical cyclone advisories and warnings on the unnamed disturbance.
Tracking west-northwestward, the tropical storm peaked with winds reported at 65 mph (105 km/h) shortly after its discovery; however, the JTWC discontinued its monitoring of the cyclone on July 27 due to a lack of ship reports confirming the location of the tropical storm.

At 1800 UTC on August 1, an unidentified ship roughly 950 mi (1,550 km) southeast of Hilo, Hawaii reported 70 mph (110 km/h) winds within a storm, prompting the JTWC to initiate advisories on Tropical Storm Dot.
Despite an apparent correlation between Dot and the preceding unnamed tropical cyclone, the lack of ship reports between July 27 and August 1 prevented the agency from confirming that the two systems were the same.
Nonetheless, development upon designation was rapid as the system tracked westward, with reports from the SS Sonoma indicating that Dot had intensified to hurricane strength by August 2.
Rapid intensification continued, and at 0000 UTC on August 3, reconnaissance aircraft found winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 952 mbar (hPa; 28.11 inHg), making Dot a Category 4 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.
Later analysis indicated that these figures constituted the hurricane's peak intensity.

After peaking, Dot slightly weakened, but maintained its Category 4 status for more than two days; during that time it boasted an unusually large eye spanning as much as 40 mi (65 km) in diameter.
Late on August 4, a fourth reconnaissance flight into the storm found surface winds of 160 mph (260 km/h), but this reading was discounted on the basis that pressures were unusually high for a storm of that intensity.
On August 5, Dot passed 90 mi (145 km) south of Ka Lae before the storm curved sharply towards the northwest late that day.
A more definite weakening phase began after this point, and during the night of August 6, Dot made landfall on Kauai with winds estimated at 85 mph (140 km/h), making the storm a Category 1-equivalent at the time of landfall.
After traversing the island, Dot was downgraded to tropical storm intensity and curved back to the west, before eventually dissipating on August 8.
On July 24, the SS Pacificus encountered a storm with maximum sustained winds meeting the threshold of tropical storm status roughly 1,000 mi (1,600 km) west of the Baja California Peninsula. Despite reports that the location of the system remained vague, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began issuing tropical cyclone advisories and warnings on the unnamed disturbance. Tracking west-northwestward, the tropical storm peaked with winds reported at 65 mph (105 km/h) shortly after its discovery; however, the JTWC discontinued its monitoring of the cyclone on July 27 due to a lack of ship reports confirming the location of the tropical storm.
At 1800 UTC on August 1, an unidentified ship roughly 950 mi (1,550 km) southeast of Hilo, Hawaii reported 70 mph (110 km/h) winds within a storm, prompting the JTWC to initiate advisories on Tropical Storm Dot. Despite an apparent correlation between Dot and the preceding unnamed tropical cyclone, the lack of ship reports between July 27 and August 1 prevented the agency from confirming that the two systems were the same. Nonetheless, development upon designation was rapid as the system tracked westward, with reports from the SS Sonoma indicating that Dot had intensified to hurricane strength by August 2. Rapid intensification continued, and at 0000 UTC on August 3, reconnaissance aircraft found winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 952 mbar (hPa; 28.11 inHg), making Dot a Category 4 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Later analysis indicated that these figures constituted the hurricane's peak intensity.
After peaking, Dot slightly weakened, but maintained its Category 4 status for more than two days; during that time it boasted an unusually large eye spanning as much as 40 mi (65 km) in diameter. Late on August 4, a fourth reconnaissance flight into the storm found surface winds of 160 mph (260 km/h), but this reading was discounted on the basis that pressures were unusually high for a storm of that intensity. On August 5, Dot passed 90 mi (145 km) south of Ka Lae before the storm curved sharply towards the northwest late that day. A more definite weakening phase began after this point, and during the night of August 6, Dot made landfall on Kauai with winds estimated at 85 mph (140 km/h), making the storm a Category 1-equivalent at the time of landfall. After traversing the island, Dot was downgraded to tropical storm intensity and curved back to the west, before eventually dissipating on August 8.
Hurricane Dot (1959)