The storm that was once Hurricane Felicia gave civil defense officials and emergency responders a chance to test the state's readiness in what's expected to be a busier-than-average year for tropical cyclones.

It also showed off the state's natural defenses, which have made hurricanes in Hawai'i rare.

Mel Kaku, director of the city Department of Emergency Management, said that even though Felicia largely fizzled out before it reached the Islands it gave the state a chance to test its hurricane preparedness.

"It's been a great opportunity to raise the awareness level," he said. "A lot of people took heed (of warnings) this time around."

Felicia passed over Maui yesterday as a tropical depression, bringing some intermittent heavy showers. No major problems were reported.

The storm weakened further last night into a low-pressure system about 95 miles east of Kahului. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center was no longer tracking the storm, which forecasters said probably would bring some showers to O'ahu overnight and Kaua'i today. By Friday, trade-wind weather is expected to return.

Civil defense officials say Felicia got their attention early because of its strength — as a one-time Category 4 hurricane in the Eastern Pacific. They started taking preventive measures last week to clear streams and drainage areas. They also activated emergency operations centers days before the storm was forecast to hit.

"The intensity of the storm certainly perked us up," Kaku said.

Hurricane Felicia was the strongest storm seen in the Eastern Pacific since Hurricane Daniel in 2006.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency also sent a 10-person team to Hawai'i on Saturday. And the Air Force Reserve's "hurricane hunter" planes came to the state for the first time since Hurricane Flossie, in 2007, to gather data on the storm by flying through it.

Ray Lovell, spokesman for state Civil Defense, said once Felicia is clear of the Islands officials will start analyzing how they prepared for the storm.

"There's nothing like the real thing to really test how you respond. It appears we had the real thing, but we didn't get the bad part with it actually hitting," Lovell said. "It seemed that the efforts really meshed."

EL NINO SEASON

Hawai'i emergency management officials are bracing for a busier-than-normal hurricane season because of El Nino conditions in the Pacific. El Nino is a periodic warming of waters near the equator in the Pacific, and often generates tropical cyclones. Four of the five busiest hurricane seasons in the Central Pacific have been El Nino years, including 1992 when Iniki brushed O'ahu and slammed into Kaua'i as a Category 4 storm.

Felicia was the second named storm in the Central Pacific this year. Forecasters are now tracking Tropical Storm Maka, which is more than 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Islands and moving away from the state, along with a tropical depression — Nine E — that is about 1,300 miles off Baja, Calif., and is starting to strengthen.

Jim Weyman, director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, said Felicia could have been a lot of worse for the state, if not for other weather conditions that helped weaken it. On Saturday, Felicia was still a Category 1 hurricane and its wind speeds — near 80 mph — were maintaining strength.

A wind shear that often sits east of the state then started breaking the hurricane apart. Felicia was also moving over cool waters, which sapped its energy.

Those two factors are largely to thank for the rarity of hurricanes hitting Hawai'i. Since 1950, the eyes of three hurricanes have passed over or very near parts of the state. Several other hurricanes have not come as close, but still caused damage.

Weyman and others warned that wind shear and cooler waters can't always be counted on.

The wind shear wasn't around, for example, when Iniki hit, said University of Hawai'i professor Steven Businger.

Also, unlike storms that come in from north of the Islands, storms that come near the state from the south pass through warmer waters, so are more likely to maintain intensity.

"The fact of the matter is that it is definitely possible for a strong hurricane to hit the Hawaiian Islands," Businger said. "The message that I would give to the public is that they should be prepared."

Weyman said one good result from Felicia is that it appears people are more prepared.

CAUTION FIRST

Hurricane season runs through November, he added, so there is still a chance of a powerful storm striking Hawai'i.

"We should continue to be prepared because there probably will be future systems (this year)," he said.

Maui Civil Defense Administrator Gen Iinuma said Felicia followed closely the track that the National Weather Service said it would.

"The tracking is just dead-on," he said yesterday. "That kind of stuff helps us emergency managers."

Iinuma added that intensity is often more uncertain, so being prepared for the worst and having good information about where the storm will likely hit is good advice.

"We're always going to err on the side of caution," he said.