Tropical Storm Gil continues to intensify in the Pacific Ocean and is poised to escalate to hurricane status soon, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)’s 5 AM Hawaiian Standard Time (HST) advisory issued on Friday. Located approximately 920 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Gil is moving west-northwest with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph and higher gusts.
Beachgoers gather at Waikiki Beach after authorities downgraded earlier tsunami warnings following an earthquake(REUTERS) When will Storm Gil become a hurricane?
Forecasters predict it will strengthen into a hurricane on Friday, with gradual weakening anticipated over the weekend. No specific landfall is currently forecast, as its path suggests it will remain over open water, though the NHC emphasizes the storm’s center may stray outside the projected cone up to 33 percent of the time.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Iona, positioned about 1,295 miles west-southwest of Honolulu, maintains winds near 40 mph with higher gusts, also tracking west-northwest with a slowing pace.
The NHC expects little change in Iona’s strength through Saturday, followed by gradual weakening starting Sunday, with no landfall anticipated.
The NHC is also monitoring three additional systems: a trough 650 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, with a 10 percent formation chance; a low-pressure area southwest of Mexico with an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression late this weekend or early next week; and a potential system off Central America and southern Mexico mid-next week with a 20 percent chance.
No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for the storms.
The administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency on Monday hosted a statewide conference call with all counties, during which the National Weather Service provided an assessment and status of the storms.
“All counties are monitoring,” agency spokesperson Kiele Amundson said in an email.
Another indirect impact from the weather systems could be swells, but they are relatively small and moving westward and won’t create anything significant, said Derek Wroe with the weather service in Honolulu.
“People might wrongly attribute the swell energy to be from these tropical systems, but they’re actually not,” he said.
(With AP inputs)