A dual hurricane threat is looming over Hawaii, a rare combination that could bring intense rain and winds to the islands twice within a week.
The Big Island remained out of tropical storm warnings until early Sunday afternoon, when a warning was lifted after Hurricane Horn passed south of the island and its sustained winds dropped to 80 mph. The storm achieved Category 1 status overnight and, while it didn’t make a direct hit, it was gaining presence.
“Wide areas have already recorded 10 to 15 inches of rainfall on the windward side of Hawaii Island in the past 24 hours, with some areas recording more than 18 inches,” the National Weather Service said in a statement around 11 a.m. Hawaii time. “Another 3 to 5 inches of rain is forecast, with moderate to high flooding possible for most of Hawaii County today.”
The heavy rains also increased the risk of landslides in mountainous areas but weakened winds that could ignite destructive wildfires like the one that destroyed the Maui town of Lahaina last August. The weather service lifted a red flag warning for wildfires in the island’s drier areas, the Associated Press reported.
Horn is expected to weaken as it moves westward but will bring gusty winds and heavy rain to the Hawaiian islands through Monday, and the National Hurricane Center also warned of “life-threatening rough seas and low tides.”
About 26,000 of the utility’s customers were without power by Sunday afternoon, the majority of them on the Big Island, according to poweroutage.us.
Hurricane Girma may approach Hawaii this week
Another named storm, now a major hurricane, could affect the islands in the coming days.
Hurricane Girma was still traveling more than 1,300 miles east of the Big Island as of Sunday, packing maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (Category 3) as it moved harmlessly away from land in the eastern North Pacific. The question is how long Girma can maintain its strength as it moves westward.
The hurricane center expects Girma to weaken as the week progresses and remain at hurricane strength until early Tuesday, but to weaken as it approaches Hawaii later this week.
According to AccuWeather, this is the first time since 1992 that two named storms have come within 300 miles of the main Hawaiian Islands in the same week, and more than 40 percent of the tropical cyclones that affect the state throughout the year form in August.
A third storm, located east of Guilma and about 1,000 miles west of Baja California, strengthened enough to be considered a tropical storm on Sunday. Named Hector, it had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.
The NHC said Hector was expected to gradually strengthen over the next few days.
