The Big Island of Hawaii has been issued with a tropical storm watch on Tuesday as Hurricane Hector continues to make its way across the Pacific. Hector falls in the Category 4 hurricane and is expected to slide south of the group of islands. Meanwhile, two more other systems eyed churning westward from Mexico.
The latest weather update from Hawaii News Now indicates that Hurricane Hector has already weakened as it continues to swirl towards the islands. Still, the National Weather Service Forecast Office (NWSFO) in Honolulu retains Hector in Category 4, prompting citizens to brace for any torrential weather downpour the hurricane may bring.
Earlier on Wednesday, the storm has recorded sustained winds of 130 mph and was spotted 540 miles east-southeast of the island of Hilo.
By afternoon, Hector will be tracking down the southern parts of the Big Island and Maui, bringing with it high surf warnings. As noted by the news outlet, waves around this time could get as strong as 12 to 15 mph with lengths reaching as high as 6 to 10 feet.
"Very rough surf is expected to impact mostly south- and east-facing coastal areas of the Big Island," the details from AccuWeather's resident meteorologist Dan Kottlowski indicate.
Hawaii County officials have already issued precautionary notices on the affected areas of the storm. The local government even went on to order temporary closure of three beaches along the Big Island which are directly facing Hector's path - Whittington, Punaluu, and Milolii beach parks.
As further pointed out in a separate report from HNN, county officials have already begun rejecting camping permits on the aforementioned parks. Activities will soon resume by Friday.
Meteorologists are quite expectant on Hector's capacity to get past Hawaii's area of responsibility and make it through the International Date Line by next week. By then, the storm will be renamed, Typhoon Hector.
Meanwhile, weather forecasters are also eyeing on another storm brewing on the Pacific west of Mexico.
Hurricane John still hasn't got the sustained wind surge similar to Hector's but findings from the National Hurricane Center indicate the possibility of it peaking at Category 3 before passing through west of the Baja California Peninsula on Friday or Saturday.
Updates have yet to be rolled out but initial visual reports from Phys Org are also pointing out on Tropical Storm Kristy in its infancy stage, forming far out of the Pacific. It may soon become a hurricane but it is unlikely to make a landfall.
