HONOLULU — Residents across Hawaii are bracing for the potential impacts of repeated hurricanes as Honolulu exited Monday and Kilma slowly approached from the eastern Pacific.
In Lower Puna, just south of Hilo on the Big Island, Larry Leon-Makaimoku and his family take the tarps off their outdoor garage structure and pull out their camp stove and propane tank. They also picked avocados and breadfruit from trees on their property in anticipation of Kilma’s strong winds.
“We got a ton of rain,” he told USA Today. “On Sunday afternoon, everything started fine, but on Friday it rained all day. We were preparing for the storm in the rain. But the worst was on Saturday.
As it passed south of the Big Island early Sunday morning, Hon strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane, dumping more than a foot of rain on some parts of the island and up to 18 inches in some areas. Some major roads were flooded, waterways overflowed and thousands of homes and businesses lost power, but there were no reports of major damage. Overnight, Hone weakened to a tropical storm as it moved west of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hurricane Kilma Tracker:See the latest details and the projected path of the Pacific storm
Several beaches across the Big Island were closed Monday and five public schools canceled classes due to power outages and dangerous road conditions, according to the Hawaii County website. Leon-Makaimoku’s children’s school was closed on Monday after a tree fell on the main campus and cut off electricity.
“We’re going into recovery mode,” Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said on a Facebook Livestream Sunday afternoon. He said emergency crews will survey the damage across the island this week as officials begin preparations for Typhoon Kilma and linemen restore power. By midnight across the state, power outages were down to just 2,000 electrical resistance. us.
“Gilma’s coming…even if we finish this one, it’s better to get ready for the next one,” Roth said.
‘Tropical Broke’:Where are all the Atlantic hurricanes?
Hurricane Kilma is forecast to sweep the Hawaiian Islands
Even as Tropical Storm Hon continues to move away from Hawaii’s Big Island, forecasters and local officials are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Kilma.
Kilma, another 1,100 miles east of Hilo on the Big Island, is forecast to bring rain, thunderstorms and strong winds to the state later this week. As of 11 a.m. Hawaii time, the storm’s sustained winds had increased to 110 mph, making it a Category 2 storm on the verge of a major hurricane.
Forecasters predicted the storm would pass north of the Hawaiian Islands, and they stressed Kilma’s impacts would depend on how close it gets to the state. On its current track, Gilma is expected to lose strength and drop into a tropical depression later in the week, AccuWeather said.
“The combination of the two tropical cyclones could bring rough seas and surf to the islands, posing hazards to boarders, swimmers and small craft,” Aquiweather said of Hone and Kilma.
Fewer impacts on Oahu, but the mood has changed
In Honolulu, Oahu, the most populous of the Hawaiian Islands, the Kulana Cannon did not lose power, but experienced strong winds, prompting her family to clear and protect everything in their yard.
“We feel like we’ve prepared as much as we can,” he said. “That’s not to say it’s a normal thing, but it is in Hawaii — there’s always a season for hurricanes.”
Oahu lies more than 130 miles northwest of the Big Island, which took the brunt of Hone’s impact. Although Oahu was not in the direct path of the storm, lessons from last August’s tragedy on Maui, where Hurricane Dora’s strong winds ignited a devastating fire that leveled the town of Lahaina, are now permeating the mood.
“What happened with Maui last year,” Cannon said, “is so urgent that it needs to be taken more seriously than normal daily hurricane weather.”
As the Pacific churns up storms, the Atlantic is calm
Halfway through the hurricane season, the Pacific has produced 9-5 more named storms than the Atlantic. In addition, there are currently three such storms swirling in the Pacific — Hone, Gilda and Hector — which is three more than the Atlantic has produced since Aug. 20, or exit figures over the next week.
That’s running against the norm, and a far cry from what forecasters warned of a record-breaking hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. Storms do not form at this stage because warm ocean water is needed to fuel hurricanes.
“Atlantic Tropics Broken – For Now,” Meteorologist Ryan Maue X Platform said storms forming near Africa face at least one problem: “Ocean temperatures at this latitude are too cold to sustain precipitation.”
— Doyle Rice
Where is Tropical Storm Hone?
Tropical Storm Hon was located 280 miles west-southwest of Honolulu and 240 miles southwest of Lihue, Hawaii, on Monday morning, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and its tropical storm surge extended out 90 miles from its center. The storm, which is moving westward at 13 mph, is forecast to weaken in the coming days as it continues to move away from Hawaii, the hurricane center said.
Experts say that retrograde storms near Hawaii are extremely rare
If Hurricane Kilma hits Hawaii by Sunday, it will be the first time in more than 30 years that two named storms pass within 300 miles of the state within a week.
The last storms to hit the islands was Hurricane Iniki, the most powerful storm to make a direct hit on Hawaii in September 1992, followed three days later by Tropical Depression Arlene. According to AccuWeather.
Storm systems don’t need to barrel directly over Hawaii to wreak havoc. Last year, Hurricane Dora caused the worst wildfires in the United States in more than a century.
Forecasters had worried that Hon’s winds would mirror Dora’s impact, particularly in areas of the islands facing intermittent drought conditions, but the storm brought enough rain to allay fears and canceled wildfire warnings for parts of Hawaii’s Big Island.
Tropical Storm Hector is expected to strengthen in the eastern Pacific
East of Hurricane Kilma Tropical Storm HectorThe latest storm to erupt in the Pacific.
The storm is expected to continue tracking west in the general direction of Hawaii over the next few days. According to the National Hurricane Center. While officials are closely monitoring the storm, it’s too early to tell how close it will come to the state.
As of 11 a.m. Hawaii time Monday, Hector was more than 1,000 miles west-southwest of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. The storm was moving west at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, the hurricane center said.
The storm will move toward the central Pacific basin early this week as wind speeds decrease. According to the Hurricane Center, Hector’s intensity is expected to be limited by dry air and strong wind shear.
Understanding Hurricane Basins and Names
Tropical storms and hurricanes form in what meteorologists call “basins.” Americans are most familiar with the Atlantic basin, which includes storms that form in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. Most storms that affect the United States are Atlantic basin storms.
The eastern and central parts of the Pacific Ocean have two basins with storms that hit the United States. Storms in the eastern and central Pacific rarely affect land and usually move out to sea. However, they can sometimes affect the west coast of Mexico, the southwestern United States, and Hawaii.
The Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins have a six-year rotating list of names to identify storms, which is updated and maintained by the World Weather Organization, according to NOAA. The Central Pacific Basin has its own rotating list of Hawaiian names.
Mostly the storms cross from the east into the central Pacific basins. If so, the storm’s original name is kept; This will happen this weekend with Hurricane Kilma. Only when a storm first forms in the central Pacific basin does it get a name like Hurricane Hawai’i.
— Doyle Rice
“Friend of animals everywhere. Devoted analyst. Total alcohol scholar. Infuriatingly humble food trailblazer.”