Lowell, Karina, Marie: Hawaiʻi stays alert with three hurricanes in the Pacific

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Hurricane Karina, located well east of the Hawaiian Islands, on Hurricane Lowell, located several hundred miles south of the Hawaiian Islands, and on Hurricane Marie, located several hundred miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula.

Lowell remains a major category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph. At 5 a.m, the system was located 600 miles S of Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi and 570 miles SSW of Honolulu, Oʻahu. Lowell is moving toward the west near 8 mph. This general motion with a gradual decrease in forward speed is expected during the next day or two, followed by a sharp turn to the north or north-northeast on Sunday. Some re-strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days.

Hurricane Lowell is expected to produce rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches, with maximum totals exceeding 10 inches possible, for Kauaʻi and the Big Island. For Maui, 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected, with isolated maximum totals of 8 inches possible. Across the remaining islands, rainfall of 1 to 2 inches with maximum amounts of 4 inches is possible. Swells from Lowell are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions during the next several days across many of the Hawaiian islands.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center provided greater insight on the path of Lowell saying a sharp turn to the north or north-northeast with a gradual increase in forward speed, will bring the system close to the westernmost Hawaiian Islands on Monday and Monday night.

“It should be noted that predicting where and how sharply Lowell turns is challenging as it will depend on the location and amplitude of the mid- to upper-level low relative to the hurricane’s location. Although the models agree on the overall setup and all show Lowell turning, there is a notable amount of spread on how close the core of Lowell gets to Kauaʻi County.”

Karina is still a hurricane as it moves into the Central Pacific as a category 1 system. At 5 a.m., Karina was located 955 miles E of Hilo, and was moving toward the west at 10 mph. The system is expected to turn to the NW over the weekend. Maximum sustained winds are 90 mph, with hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 160 miles. Gradual weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, although Karina is expected to remain a hurricane during the next day or so. The CPHC says Karina is still expected to become post-tropical storm early next week, before dissipating thereafter.

Category 2 Hurricane Marie is moving WNW away from land and is located 550 miles WSW of the southern tip of Baja California. At 8 a.m. PDT, Marie was moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph, and a gradual turn toward the northwest is expected within the next day or so. Maximum sustained winds are near 100 mph with higher gusts. A slow weakening trend is expected to begin on Saturday.