Hurricane Barbara reached Category 4 status on Tuesday and is forecast to become a Category 5. As of Tuesday night, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 155mph (150km/h). The storm kicks off what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expects to be an “above normal” hurricane season.
Will Hurricane Barbara hit Hawaii?
Accuweather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski called Hurricane Barbara a “monster hurricane running loose over the open waters of the Pacific basin”.
However, despite the storm’s intensity, Hawaii isn’t at risk of a direct hit at this stage.
Barbara’s northwesterly track will bring the hurricane into progressively cooler waters well east of Hawaii later this week, leading to weakening.
AccuWeather Tropical Meteorologist Adam Douty said: “Barbara is likely to weaken to a tropical storm late this week or this weekend and then to a disturbance by next week.”
Waters are warmer than average around Hawaii, but not warm enough to sustain a tropical storm or hurricane.
But residents are advised to monitor the progress of Barbara, as it is still likely to bring showers and thunderstorms to parts of Hawaii around next Tuesday.
Mr Douty said: “During Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week, there can be localised flooding downpours and gusty thunderstorms with rough seas and surf that spread westward over parts of the islands.”
At this stage, Barbara’s main threat is to ships, including those that approach or depart from the Panama Canal over the Pacific Ocean.
Swells will slowly spread outward from the hurricane and could create rough surf conditions along the western coast of Mexico later this week and eventually part of Southern California and the west-facing shoreline of the Big Island of Hawaii this weekend.
The exact track and strength of the storm next week will determine the extent and intensity of the conditions.
Barbara could arrive and bring impacts just days after an unusual rain event in Hawaii.
During the last week of June, a non-tropical storm system brought drenching downpours and produced localised flooding over parts of Hawaii.