COURTESY CPHC
Two tropical disturbances are developing in the Pacific this week, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.
Central Pacific Hurricane Center officials are watching two Pacific weather systems that could develop into tropical cyclones this week, with one potentially threatening Hawaii as soon as this weekend.
The closer of the two systems was about 1,100 miles east-southeast of Hawaii island and nearly stationary this afternoon, according to CPHC. Meteorologists said showers and thunderstorms in the tropical disturbance “remain disorganized.”
“Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for further development, and a tropical depression or storm is expected to form during the middle portion of this week as the system begins moving generally northwestward across the Central Pacific,” CPHC forecasters said. “Interests in the Hawaiian islands should closely monitor the progress of the system.”
The chances that the closer system forms into a tropical cyclone was listed as 60 percent in the next two days and 90 percent in the next week.
The latest National Weather Service forecast for Honolulu calls for breezy tradewinds and scattered showers this weekend with high temperatures in upper 80s. However, “the long-range Hawaii forecast for this upcoming weekend could change dramatically if this system develops and then moves towards the islands,” NWS forecasters said today.
The private weather forecasting company Accuweather said the developing storm system could start affecting Hawaii’s weather as early as Friday and into the weekend. Accuweather said a tropical storm or hurricane could come close enough to Hawaii to bring dangerous surf, heavy rain, flooding and damaging winds to parts of the islands.
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The next tropical cyclone to form in the Central Pacific will be named Lala. A tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 39 mph or more, while a hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 74 mph.
Even if the storm system does not form into a tropical cyclone, it is still likely to bring dangerous surf and rip currents, according to Accuweather.
A second weather system further east in the Pacific was well west-southwest of the Baja California peninsula today, according to CPHC. It has a 60 percent chance of forming into a tropical cyclone in the next week as it slowly moves northwest toward the Central Pacific, forecasters said.