Hurricane Nolo continues to move west, with lingering rain and winds across Big Island of Hawaii, as well as dangerous surf.
Nolo is expected to strengthen to a major hurricane by Sunday as it moves south of the island chain.
Happening now
The storm mvoing westward away from the Big Island at about 9 mph. All tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings have been discontinued. They have been replaced with high wind warnings for portions of the Big Island and Maui County, where gusts up to 75 mph are possible.
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While much of the rain is now pulling away from the islands, mudslides and flooding could still be a concern.
Rainfall totals over 12 inches have been reported on the Big Island.
What is the forecast?
Nolo continues to move west after being stationary for hours on Saturday. The storm should move into warmer water during the next 24 hours, which will help it intensify into a major hurricane on Sunday.
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The current forecast cone from the National Hurricane Center is shown below.
(MORE: What a forecast cone really means)
Impacts
Flooding rainfall
As the storm passes south of the islands, rain may continue to impact parts of the Big Island, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe.
The National Hurricane Center warns that we could still see flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.
Be aware that the flooding and debris can travel well beyond where the heaviest rain falls.
The Big Island and parts of Maui County were hit hard by flooding, mudslides and strong winds from Hurricane Lala in mid-August, and some places just recently got power restored.
Winds
The best chance of winds capable of at least some tree damage and power outages is expected across parts of the Big Island and Maui County
In addition, wind gusts will likely be stronger both at the tops of and downwind of mountain slopes in the entire island chain.
Coastal flooding, high surf
Larger swells are producing dangerous surf and rip currents to the island chain
Big Island’s strongest hurricane in decades?
Only one other major (Category 3 or stronger) hurricane has tracked within 150 miles of the Big Island, according to NOAA’s hurricane database.
That was August 1959’s Hurricane Dot, which went on to slam into Kauai after brushing south of the Big Island.
So Nolo is the strongest Big Island impact from a hurricane in 67 years.
Fourth potential flood event
This system will become the fourth to at least graze Hawaii, bringing flooding and winds to most of the state.
We first had Hurricane Lala in mid-August, whose eyewall grazed the southern end of the Big Island. Torrential rain hit, and gusty winds caused power outages to skyrocket.
(MORE: Lala Recap)
Next up was Tropical Storm Moke, which tracked farther south than Lala but still hit parts of the Big Island with rain and winds from its outer bands. Moke’s impacts were less significant, but flooding still occurred because the ground was still saturated from Lala.
Then there was Hurricane Lowell, a powerful hurricane that reached Category 5 strength at its peak. The storm weakened before making its closest pass, but it slammed the western islands with wind, rain and waves.
(MORE: Lowell Recap)