Forecasters monitoring weather system southeast of Big Island
Forecasters monitoring weather system southeast of Big Island
Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasters are monitoring an area of disturbed weather far southeast of the Big Island.
Showers and thunderstorms associated with the low pressure system centered 1,000 miles southeast of Hilo are becoming more organized, and forecasters expect environmental conditions to be favorable for further development during the coming days.
It has a 70-percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours, forecasters said. Should it become a tropical storm, it would be named Niala.
Meanwhile, farther west in the Central Pacific, Tropical Storm Malia is forecast to continue strengthening during the next couple of days. Packing 40 mph winds, Malia was located 1,125 miles west-northwest of Kailua-Kona and moving toward north-northeast at 12 mph as of Monday afternoon, forecasters said.
A tropical storm warning has been posted Papahanamokuakea Marine National Monument, from French Frigate Shoals to Maro Reef to Lisianski Island.
Elsewhere in the Central Pacific, no tropical cyclones are expected to develop through Wednesday afternoon. The Central Pacific covers an area spanning west of 140 degrees west longitude to the international date line. Hawaii falls within this area.
In the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression 16-E weakened to a remnant low Monday afternoon. Located about 25 miles west of Caborca, Mexico, the weather system featured 30 mph winds as of press time.
Forecasters are also monitoring an area of low pressure that could form several hundred miles south of the south coast of Mexico later this week. The still-developing area of low pressure has just a 20 percent chance of forming into a tropical cyclone by the weekend.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Pacific, no tropical cyclones are expected to develop during the coming five days, according to forecasters.
The Central and Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons continue through Nov. 30.
Get more hurricane-related content, including preparation tips, evacuation info and daily tropical weather updates, on our hurricane season page, sponsored by Clark Realty, at www.westhawaiitoday.com/hurricane-season-2015.