Hawaii Hurricane Update: Julio

Updated:

This page was last updated at 5:00pm 8/9/14.

Iselle Updates

While Tropical Storm Iselle still remains a threat, it looks like Hawaii’s Big Island will suffer most of the damage, with some areas getting over a foot of rain. As Iselle moves WNW at around 10 mph, there is still a chance of strong wind gusts and flash flooding on other islands as it pushes farther west.

Although Iselle is weakening slowly as it moves along, it has set a number of records in Hawaii, including #8 on the list (or possibly higher) of intense storms to hit Hawaii, the first year Hawaii has had 2 hurricanes in the same year since 1983 (2 months apart, not 3 days), and if Julio decides to hit Hawaii, it will be the first-ever back-to-back hurricanes or tropical storms to ever hit the state. Here is footage from Iselle moving into Maui’s north shore this morning:

As of 9am Friday morning, a Brown Water Advisory has been issued for the entire state. And while some areas of Maui are relatively calm, such as Lahaina Town and Kihei, it could easily change within a matter of minutes.

As of midnight on Thursday, 231 individuals were reported at 8 shelters throughout Maui County. Also, as of 9:15am, all airports remain open in Maui County and customers in the Upper Kula area are being asked to conserve water while crews work to restore power to the Olinda Water Treatment Plant. 20,500 people are currently without power on the Big Island, and outages have been reported in Kula, Olinda, Kihei, Makena, West Maui, Paia, Hana, Ulupalakua and Kalaupapa in Maui County.

To see current weather conditions and live video feed from areas in West, North, South, Central and Upcountry Maui, please visit Maui Web Cameras with locations at Wailea Gateway Center, Makena Beach & Golf Resort, and Kaanapali, Lahaina and Napili.

But Iselle isn’t the only storm on everyone’s mind.

Hurricane Update: Julio

While Iselle has been officially downgraded to a Tropical Storm, Julio has now been upgraded to a Category 3 Storm. It’s located approximately 1,000 miles east of Iselle with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, but has recently been forecast to move at least 150 miles north of the islands beginning Sunday morning and continuing throughout Monday and Tuesday. Overall, it looks like it will be much less severe than Iselle.

Due to Julio’s reported path, ocean conditions will be rough to the north and east of the islands.

Update as of 5:00pm 8/9/14: Julio has been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. It is currently on track to continue moving northwest of the islands, passing 250 miles northwest of Maui on Sunday. Hurricane force winds extend up to 35 miles from the center while tropical storm force winds extend up to 165 miles from the center, both plenty far away from the Hawaiian Islands. Swells will produce large surf on north and east shores for the next few days.

Hurricane Facts:

  • A tropical storm is classified as a hurricane once winds reach 74 mph or higher
  • They are the only weather disaster that have been given their own names
  • A large hurricane can release the energy of 10 atomic bombs every second
  • Most fatal hurricane cases occur from large walls of water moving inland
  • Jupiter has a hurricane that has lasted more than 300 years and is larger than planet Earth
  • Hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean lasts from May 15th to November 30th due to warm and humid sea conditions
  • The word hurricane comes from the Native American word hurucane, which means “evil spirit of the winds”
  • The trend of only using women’s names for hurricanes ended in 1978
  • Hurricanes in the Southern Hemisphere spin clockwise while those in the Northern Hemisphere spin counterclockwise

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