Hurricane Hone Soaks Hawaii with Flooding Rain; Another Storm Approaching

In a rare occurrence, a dual hurricane threat is targeting Hawaii, potentially bringing substantial rain and winds to the islands twice within a week. Hawaii’s Big Island was under a tropical storm warning until early afternoon on Sunday, August 25 when Hurricane Hone had passed to its south. The storm had attained Category 1 status overnight and continued to affect the area despite not having reached it directly.

The Impact of Hurricane Hone

The National Weather Service reported “widespread rainfall of 10 to 15 inches” that had already descended across the windward Big Island in the past 24 hours, with certain areas receiving over 18 inches. Given the additional expected rainfall of 3 to 5 inches, a high threat of flash flooding today over much of Hawaii County has been predicted.

The torrential rain also raised the risk of mudslides in the mountains, however, it somewhat reduced chances of the winds igniting a destructive wildfire like the one that ravished the town of Lahaina in Maui in August last year. The threat of wildfires in drier regions of the islands, resulted in a red flag warning issued by the weather service.

Although expected to weaken further, Hone remains capable of bringing powerful gusts and significant rainfall to the smaller Hawaiian islands through Monday as it continues its journey west. The National Hurricane Center also cautioned about possible “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.” Furthermore, the poweroutage.us database reported nearly 26,000 utility customers out of power by Sunday afternoon, the majority concentrated on the Big Island.

Approaching Hurricanes on the Horizon

In an unprecedented double-threat, another major hurricane is projected to impact the islands in the upcoming days. Still over 1,300 miles east of the Big Island on Sunday, Hurricane Gilma was dispensing winds of up to 115 mph − placing it into the Category 3 classification − while it harmlessly churned in the eastern north Pacific Ocean.

The future trajectory of Gilma, however, remains uncertain. The hurricane center predicts that Gilma will begin to lose power during the week, maintaining hurricane-level intensity through early Tuesday, but is likely to weaken as it approaches Hawaii later in the week. According to AccuWeather, the occurrence of two named storms coming within 300 miles of the main Hawaiian islands within a week has not been recorded since 1992. More than 40% of the total tropical cyclones that have impacted the state throughout the year occur in August.

Adding to the growing concern, a third system located east of Gilma and nearly 1,000 miles west of Baja California, has developed into a tropical storm. Named Hector, the storm was producing sustained winds of up to 45 mph. The NHC indicates that Hector will gradually grow stronger during the next few days, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance and preparedness in the region.