Hurricane Lowell could pass dangerously close to the western part of the Hawaiian archipelago early next week. Kauai and Oahu are at greatest risk of significant rainfall and flood impact, and there’s an outside chance the storm’s center makes a direct hit.
On Friday morning, Lowell was 600 miles south of Lihue, Hawaii, or 570 miles south-southwest of Honolulu. It was moving west at 8 mph and harbored maximum eyewall winds of 125 mph. That made it a high-end Category 3 hurricane. A high-pressure force field to the north has suppressed Lowell southward, keeping it slowly ambling westward.