While much focus has been given to tropical systems currently in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean is also giving reason to take note. Hurricane Madeline is nearing the Hawaiian Islands with Hurricane Lester following closely behind.
As of late Wednesday morning (Hawaiian time), Madeline sits to the east of the Big Island and has weakened to a category 1 hurricane, with peak sustained winds of around 75 mph. The good news is that Madeline is expected to move south as it approaches the Big Island, keeping the strong winds at the center of the hurricane offshore. That said, it won’t be a total miss, with gusty winds over 60 mph and extremely heavy rain up to 10 inches still possible for the Big Island, especially this Wednesday night.
The National Hurricane Center has issued a Hurricane Watch for the Hawaii County on the Big Island, meaning hurricane conditions are possible in the next 48 hours.
Once Madeline passes by the Big Island, a majority of forecasting models have it staying out in open water, south of the rest of Hawaii. Those in Oahu, Maui and the other Hawaiian Islands should still monitor Madeline’s forecast, however, as a slight shift north could mean a glancing blow for these locations as well. Madeline is expected to weaken as it shifts to the southwest, eventually becoming a tropical storm.
After Madeline, Lester will follow closely behind, encroaching on Hawaii by the start of the next weekend. As of late Wednesday morning, Lester was a category four hurricane, with max sustained winds of 130 mph.
The storm is getting past its peak, with steady weakening already starting as it moves over slightly cooler waters. Similar to Madeline, it is still expected to remain at hurricane strength as it approaches Hawaii.
Unlike Madeline, which is anticipated to turn to the south, forecast models have Lester taking more of a northerly track near Hawaii. It’s too soon to tell whether the storm will make landfall or stay out to sea, but folks in the Aloha State should be following the forecast closely and making preparations just in case.
MORECAST meteorologists will be following the situation closely all week for both Madeline and Lester. Follow MORECAST_USA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest.