It is appearing more likely than not that Hawaii will see impacts from Hurricane Kiko as it approaches the Aloha State during the early to middle part of next week. While it is too soon to know exactly what those impacts will be and their magnitude, it isn’t too soon to prepare for it and other natural disasters. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, known as HI-EMA, is encouraging people in Hawaii to stock up on 14 days worth of supplies, food, and water should Kiko or any natural disaster strike Hawaii in the coming days.
Kiko rapidly intensified from a strong category 2 hurricane to a powerful category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Today, the National Hurricane Center says the hurricane is a little weaker but the storm could re-intensify as it continues its westward march towards Hawaii.
As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Kiko was located about 1,470 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii and about 1,675 miles east-southeast of Honolulu, Hawaii. Maximum sustained winds are now at 130 mph as the storm moves due west at 9 mph. The minimum central pressure is at 951 mb or 28.09″.
Because the storm is days away from even impacting Hawaii, there are no advisories of any kind related to the storm up for Hawaii at this time.
While the National Hurricane Center expects Kiko to continue to head west through tonight, they expect the hurricane to turn west-northwestward and maintain this motion for the following few days. Over the next few days, they said fluctuations in intensity are expected too.
“Kiko is forecast to approach the Hawaiian Islands during the early to the middle portion of next week. The risk of direct impacts from wind and rainfall is increasing,” the National Hurricane Center said in a morning update today. “However, it is too soon to determine the exact location or magnitude of these impacts, and interests there should continue to monitor the progress of this storm.
