Less than a month after Hurricane Lala dumped torrential rains and damaging winds on Hawaii, another storm could potentially impact the islands.
According to a Sept. 4 advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Lowell is currently located about 555 miles south-southwest of Honolulu with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph with higher gusts.
Forecasters are advising those on the Hawaiian Islands to monitor the progress of Lowell, as the storm is expected to turn toward the northwest and north this weekend and head just west of the islands. Forecasters said it could move near or just west of the westernmost main islands late on Sept. 7 and into early Sept. 8.
The hurricane center said some fluctuations in intensity are expected during
the next few days, however Lowell is expected to remain a major hurricane through the weekend. A major hurricane is a Category 3 (or above) storm and has winds of at least 111 mph. Lowell was briefly a Category 5 (with 160 mph winds) on Sept. 2 before weakening slightly to Category 4 on Sept. 3 and then weakening again to a Category 3 on Sept. 4.
"While confidence is not high there is a possibility that a major hurricane can impact the state next week," the weather service office in Honolulu said in a forecast discussion.
Swells generated from Lowell are likely to cause "life-threatening" surf and rip current conditions during the next several days across many of the Hawaiian Islands, according to the NHC.
The most recent forecast takes Lowell toward the western Hawaiian island of Kauai, devastated in 1992 by Hurricane Iniki, considered the most destructive storm in Hawaii history.
Hurricane Lowell path tracker
This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
Hurricane Lowell spaghetti models
Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Hurricane Lowell heading toward Hawaii? See path tracker
