Here’s a breakdown of what storms are coming in the near future. While the 8-Island chain sits squarely in the tropical Pacific, hurricanes there are actually pretty rare thanks to the surrounding cool ocean waters. It still has maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, though forecasts expect it to weaken slightly through early Thursday. — 2:45 a.m. North Carolina’s Outer Banks apparently will be spared from a tropical system that has been moving toward the state for days. The storm’s winds had not yet reached the required 75 miles per hour for hurricane designation, but forecasters expect they will by the time the storm hits land, if it sustains its power. “Forty miles per hour speeds in a tropical cyclone setting is different from a gusty wind storm with 45 miles per hour winds”. Also, the chance for tropical storm conditions at Hilo is 71 percent, at Kailua-Kona is 57 percent, and at South Point is 88 percent.
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Florida’s governor declared an emergency on Wednesday ahead of the brewing storm. “We’re going to need outside help, there’s no two ways about it”, said En Young, executive director of The Food Basket.
But recent studies have shown that hurricanes may become more frequent in Hawaii thanks to climate change, a pattern we have certainly seen over the past couple of years.
Heavy rainfall is expected across much of Florida as a tropical depression looms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Elsewhere, the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Hermine had formed in the Gulf of Mexico and was centered about 400 miles from Tampa, Florida. Fortunately it has changed direction and is beginning to head back out into the open Atlantic.
Travel providers have begun waiving change fees and relax policies for select travel dates and airports in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, and SC. The storm is now less than 1,780 miles east of Hilo.
The National Weather Service (NWS) tracked Hurricane Madeline swirling about 235 miles east of the town of Hilo around 11 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
Looming behind Madeline, Hurricane Lester was packing 130 mph winds, located 1,085 miles east of Hilo and tracking west at 12 mph Tuesday evening. It’s not clear yet whether the storm will make landfall there, but if it does it would be the first hurricane to do so since accurate records began in 1949, according to the Weather Underground. Whether the storm makes landfall or not, tropical storm-force winds and very heavy rainfall are likely.
On Hawaii’s Big Island, residents were warned that Hurricane Madeline will bring strong winds and heavy rains as it passes over the area, beginning late on Wednesday. This rainfall may lead to risky flash floods and mudslides.
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There have been four previous major hurricanes threatening in the Island of Hawaii’s history: 1982’s Hurricane Daniel, 1991’s Hurricane Fefa, 1993’s Hurricane Eugene and 2014’s Hurricane Iselle.
