Though there are no watches or warnings yet in effect associated with Lester, the forecast cone shows that Lester potentially may impact the Hawaiian islands by Labor Day weekend, soaking ground that’s already been drenched by Madeline and bringing high winds, damaging swells and heavy rain for Hawaii, Maui and the other Hawaiian islands in the storm’s patch.
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(AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy). Workers board up the windows of a store in Hilo, Hawaii as Hurricane Madeline approached the Big Island on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016.
Morrison says the eastern part of the state could be hit with heavy rains and tropical storm or hurricane-force winds starting Friday night.
Wind speed diminished steadily throughout the day and by 11 p.m. (2 a.m. PDT Thursday), they were swirling at 50 miles per hour.
“We are not out of the woods”, Aton said. Lester also could affect the Hawaiian Islands and now hurricane watches are in effect for the islands south of, but not including, Oahu.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a strong tropical storm or a category 1 hurricane”, said Eric Lau, a meteorologist with the weather service.
In the Atlantic, Hermine is a hurricane once again and is now barreling in on the Florida Gulf Coast as the governor warns of life threatening dangers. Those strong storms were becoming more distanced from the storm’s circulation center. At the last advisory to be issued by the National Hurricane Center, the storm was about 405 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, NC, with winds of 30 mph, moving northeast at 15 mph.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Florida’s Big Bend from the Suwannee River to Mexico Beach. She also has a cooler with ice plus a portable burner and batteries to get her through the storm.
Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said no Big Island schools sustained damage in the storm.
The Hawaiian islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe were under a tropical storm watch, but there were no alerts for Oahu or Kauai.
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Gov. David Ige has issued an emergency proclamation for both Madeline and Lester, allowing the state to quickly spend money.
