[3][4][5] Because it existed in both the eastern and western Pacific, John was one of a small number of tropical cyclones to be designated as both a hurricane and a typhoon.

Despite lasting for a full month, John barely affected land at all, bringing only minimal effects to the Hawaiian Islands and the United States military base on Johnston Atoll.

[6][7] Upon entering the Eastern Pacific the wave gradually developed, before the NHC initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Depression Ten-E on August 11.

[3] However, after eight days of slow westward movement across the Pacific Ocean, shear lessened greatly on August 19, and John intensified significantly and was designated as a hurricane at 17:00 PDT.

[9] Also, on August 22 (by Hawaii Standard Time), John made its closest approach to the Hawaiian Islands, 345 miles (555 km) to the south.

On August 27 local time, John reached a secondary peak strength of 130 mph (215 km/h), and shortly thereafter it crossed the International Date Line at approximately 22° N and came under the surveillance of the Guam branch of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

[10] After reentering the central Pacific, John briefly reached a tertiary peak strength of 90 mph (150 km/h), a strong Category 1 hurricane, well to the north of Midway Island.

However, the trough was rapidly pulling apart John's structure, and the cold waters of the northern central Pacific were not conducive to a tropical cyclone.

On September 10, the 120th advisory was released on the system, finally declaring John to have become extratropical approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south of Unalaska Island.

[11] John's global record stood until 2023, when it was broken by Cyclone Freddy, which traversed the Indian Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere for 36 days.

[14] Additionally, heavy rains on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi caused minor, localized flooding and some short-term road closures.

Nonetheless, the 1,100-man personnel for the United States military base on Johnston Atoll had been evacuated to Honolulu as a precaution while John approached.