Weekend tropical threat growing in Hawaii
Residents and visitors alike will need to remain on alert heading into this weekend as the threat grows for a direct strike from a budding tropical storm.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) declared a disturbance in the central Pacific “Potential Tropical Cyclone One-C,” a designation that allows forecasters to issue official predictions when a system is expected to develop close to land.
The disturbance remained vigorous but disorganized as Wednesday’s sun rose over the cluster of thunderstorms located about 1,000 miles southeast of Hawaii. A tropical storm is likely to form by the end of the day Wednesday; if this happens, it’ll earn the name Lala.
Forecasters expect future Tropical Storm Lala to steadily intensify as it approaches Hawaii by this weekend, potentially on the verge of hurricane strength by the time it strikes or grazes the Big Island through the day Saturday. From there, the official NHC forecast has the center of the storm scraping just south of the islands through the remainder of the weekend.
If the system remains on its projected course, all of the main Hawaiian Islands are likely to experience gusty winds, heavy rainfall, as well as dangerous surf and rip currents into the beginning of next week. Folks should prepare for power outages, flash flooding, and potential landslides.
Conditions right around Hawaii are usually unfavorable for tropical cyclones due to higher wind shear and generally cooler waters close to the islands.
The most recent tropical landfall in Hawaii occurred when the center of Tropical Storm Linda crossed Molokai in August 2021. The Big Island hasn’t sustained a direct strike since Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall in August 2014. The main islands haven’t been struck by a full-fledged hurricane since Iniki roared across Kauai as a destructive Category 4 storm in September 1992.
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