Hurricane Nolo Skirts Hawaii as Officials Watch Kilauea for 'Volcanic Hail'
Nolo re-strengthened to a Category 2 storm south of the Big Island and is forecast to peak as a Category 4 far from land, but high winds knocked out power to more than 16,000 customers. It is one of three hurricanes spinning in the Pacific at once for the first time since 2015.
Hurricane Nolo re-strengthened south of Hawaii on Sunday and is expected to become a major hurricane, but its center is now forecast to stay well away from the islands, sparing the state a direct hit while still bringing damaging winds, flooding and high surf.
As of 5 a.m. local time, Nolo was a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, centered about 260 miles southwest of South Point on the Big Island and 355 miles south of Honolulu, and moving west at 12 mph, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. The storm briefly weakened to a Category 1 on Saturday before regaining strength overnight. Forecasters expect it to become a Category 3 on Sunday night and peak as a Category 4 with 130 mph winds on Monday as it turns northwest toward the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, far southwest of the main islands.
Because of Saturday's weakening trend, all tropical storm and hurricane alerts for Hawaii were canceled and replaced with high wind warnings. The National Weather Service warned of east winds of 30 to 45 mph with gusts up to 75 mph for parts of Maui, the Big Island, Molokai and Lanai, especially in west Maui and leeward Kohala, and said damaging winds could topple trees and power lines. Hawaiian Electric said about 12,370 customers in West Maui and Upcountry Maui and about 3,900 on the windward side of Oahu had lost power. High surf advisories called for waves of 8 to 12 feet on east-facing shores.
Heavy rain overnight flooded parts of the Kau district on the Big Island, including Waiohinu and Naalehu, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense. Highway 11 was closed in several places because of flooding, and Highway 250, the Kohala Mountain Road, was shut because of high winds. A flood watch for the Big Island remained in effect through Sunday night. President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Hawaii on Friday, Gov. Josh Green said.
Officials are also watching the Kilauea volcano. Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda told ABC News that precursor activity has been detected there, raising the possibility of tephra, which he described as "volcanic hail." "It could shoot as high as a thousand feet, right? And then if there is wind, then that wind pushes that tephra all over to the surrounding community," Alameda said. He warned that tephra landing in household catchment tanks could contaminate drinking water and that roads would have to be cleared, and said the state could not afford to fight multiple disasters at once.
Nolo is part of an unusually busy Pacific season. Hurricane Polo remained a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds off Mexico on Sunday morning and could bring tropical storm conditions to Baja California Sur by Sunday night or early Monday, while Hurricane Odalys was barely holding Category 1 strength and expected to dissipate. It is the first time three hurricanes have spun in the Pacific at the same time since Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena in 2015. Earlier this month Hurricane Lowell battered Kauai and Niihau, and last month Hurricane Lala washed away about 100 homes as it brushed past the state.
