Experts with the National Weather Service in Honolulu are keeping close tabs on Hurricane Karina, which is moving in the direction of Hawaii at about 15 mph.
Experts with the National Weather Service in Honolulu are keeping close tabs on Hurricane Karina, which is moving in the direction of Hawaii at about 15 mph.
Tropical Storm Karina strengthened Thursday into the sixth hurricane of the 2014 season within the Eastern North Pacific, and experts expected it to continue westward into the Central Pacific, reaching to within 1,300 miles of Hawaii Island by Tuesday.
While it is still too early to tell where the storm will ultimately go, it’s important for Big Isle residents to keep abreast of storm systems in the Pacific Basin, said Tom Evans, acting director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.
“Right now, it’s about 2,500 miles to the southeast of the Big Island. The five-day forecast still has it well to the east/southeast of the Big Island. … Uncertainty is still high,” he said.
“It’s gaining strength, and it’s expected to continue gaining strength to keep it at a Category 1 hurricane. The forecast has it peaking at 85 mph for sustained winds.”
Karina would become the fifth tropical cyclone to develop within the Central Pacific Basin, in keeping with the National Weather Service’s predictions in May that this would be a “normal to above normal” hurricane season.
“We were expecting normal to above normal activity due to the building of El Nino, caused by a warming of the surface of the ocean near the equator,” Evans said. “That brings more activity in our area, and this season a lot of it has been pointed toward us.”
Original forecasts were for between four and seven tropical cyclones within the Central Pacific.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.