Hawaii Declares Emergency as Category 3 Hurricane Lowell Nears Within 600 Miles
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 4
Hawaii Declares Emergency as Category 3 Hurricane Lowell Nears Within 600 Miles
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 4
Summary
Gov. Josh Green declared a state of emergency Thursday as Hurricane Lowell approached Hawaii, sitting about 600 miles southwest of Honolulu Friday morning as a Category 3 storm.
AccuWeather expects Lowell to turn north this weekend and pass within a couple hundred miles of the western islands, with its exact track shaped by the jet stream and nearby Hurricane Karina.
Sunday night through Tuesday, Kauai and other western islands could see 40-60 mph winds, gusts up to 70 mph, flash flooding, mudslides, tree damage and power outages even without a landfall.
O'ahu to the Big Island face 1-4 inches of rain with isolated totals up to 18 inches, while large swells starting Saturday threaten south-facing shores with dangerous breakers, overwash and sneaker waves.
Lowell earlier peaked at 160 mph as a Category 5, and its approach comes during an El Niño-fueled Pacific season that has already produced 15 tropical systems, including six hurricanes.