Hurricane Lowell: Hawaii braces for its third storm threat in a month

Hawaii is reportedly preparing for Hurricane Lowell, a powerful storm that could bring dangerous weather to the islands on Monday, marking the third storm in as many weeks to threaten the state as El Niño intensifies the Pacific hurricane season.

In this connection, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green issued a state-wide emergency declaration on Thursday to free up state resources and activate Hawaii National Guard units.

Given the situation, the County of Kauai also began clearing drainage systems and mapping emergency assets in flood -prone zones.

The county further underlines that state land and natural resources teams were scheduled to alert campers they must leave immediately on Friday.

All eyes are toward Lowell-a Category 3 hurricane located more than 500 miles south of Hawaii as of early Friday morning.

Lowell reached Category 5 hurricane status on Wednesday, while tracking west but forecasters predict it will have a sudden reversal to the north this weekend.

At present, groups of computer forecasts models called ensemble spreads remain highly divergent showing a wide range of outcomes for Lowell’s closest approach.

Nonetheless, Lowell remains strong enough to churn up the ocean moving outward in all directions from a central point, sending heavy swell toward Hawaii’s southern shores, and raising the overall risk of major coastal funding.