Hawaii on guard as tropical storm grows in the central Pacific
It’s relatively rare for storms to directly threaten the Hawaiian Islands
A developing tropical storm could pose a rare threat to Hawaii later this weekend.
Forecasters are keeping an eye on a vigorous system that grew into Tropical Storm Hone on Thursday.
Hone is expected to steadily strengthen over the next couple of days as it tracks west across the central Pacific Ocean, and it may approach hurricane strength by the end of the weekend.
DON'T MISS: Tropical systems don’t need a name to trigger devastating floods
While current predictions show the storm passing south of Hawaii, the state is firmly within the cone of uncertainty, which is the historical margin of error in a track forecast. It wouldn’t take much of a northward jog to bring the core of the storm very close to the state.
“Interests in the main Hawaiian Islands should monitor the progress of Hone,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday.
The agency predicts the storm to influence heavy rains across the Big Island, especially, where 100-200 mm of rain may fall through Monday. Gusty winds are also expected as the storm passes close to the state.
Tropical storms are relatively rare in Hawaii
It’s relatively rare for storms in this part of the world to track close enough to the popular destination to warrant watching by residents and visitors alike.
The tropical island chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean faces a direct threat from a storm every couple of years. According to historical records, only 30 tropical storms or hurricanes have come within 100 km of the Hawaiian Islands since 1950.
RELATED: Steven Spielberg was filming Jurassic Park in Hawaii when Hurricane Iniki hit
Linda was the most recent named storm to make landfall in Hawaii. The once-powerful hurricane weakened to a tropical storm before striking the island of Molokai on August 23, 2021.
One year earlier, Hurricane Douglas made an uncomfortably close pass to the entire island chain as it moved through the region as a Category 1 storm. The islands saw gusty winds, heavy rain, and rough swells as the hurricane skirted the state.
The last storm to make direct landfall in Hawaii at hurricane strength was Hurricane Iniki on September 11, 1992. Iniki struck the island of Kauai as a Category 4 with maximum winds of about 200 km/h, killing six people and causing more than $3 billion (USD) in damage.
