Tropical Storm Ana continues to strengthen Tuesday as it makes its way toward the Big Island, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said.
The storm is currently located about 820 miles east-southeast of Hilo and 875 miles east-southeast of Kailua-Kona and moving toward the northwest around 8 mph. The storm as of 11 a.m. Tuesday was packing 65 mph winds. Tropical storm force winds currently extend outward up to 60 miles.
Ana is forecast to continue strengthening during the coming 48 hours as it makes its way over 80-degree waters and a currently “decent” wind shear, which often helps tear storms apart as they near the Hawaiian Islands, moves westward.
The storm is now forecast to be upgraded to a hurricane by 2 a.m. on Wednesday. It is expected to remain a hurricane through at least 8 a.m. Saturday as it nears the Big Island. The current forecast track has the center of Ana passing over South Point on Saturday.
While the storm is still days out, now is the time to begin preparing. For more preparedness information, click here.
The center, if necessary, will issue a tropical storm or hurricane watch 48 hours and a warning about 36 hours ahead of expected landfall.
If the storm makes landfall on the Big Island, it will be the second tropical cyclone to hit the Big Island during the 2014 hurricane season.
The Big Island was lashed by Tropical Storm Iselle on Aug. 8. The storm damaged some 148 homes, caused an estimated $53 million in damage to the island’s agricultural industry and left thousands in East Hawaii without electricity. It took until about Aug. 23 to restore electricity to all the 25,000 Hawaii Island customers who lost power at the height of the storm.
Elsewhere in the Central North Pacific Basin, which is located between 140 degrees west longitude and the International Dateline, no tropical cyclone formation is expected through Wednesday night.
Central Pacific Hurricane Center officials predicted four to seven tropical cyclones this year in the Central North Pacific Basin. Overall, they give this season an 80 percent chance for a normal to above average number of tropical storms to form.
The Central Pacific hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
