Hurricane warnings and watches have been issued across Hawaii after the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu advised that Hurricane Lane has now strengthened to a category five storm.
It is currently located around 600 kilometers south-southeast of Hilo and is packing winds of up to 260 kilometers per hour with gusts nearer 315 kilometers per hour. It will weaken over the next few days but it will still be capable of causing catastrophic damage.
Lane is forecast to move dangerously close to the main Hawaiian Islands later this week, potentially bringing damaging winds and life-threatening flash flooding from heavy rainfall anywhere in the state.
As Lane is expected to be slow-moving as it nears the islands, it will produce large and damaging surf.
Lane is only the second category-five hurricane on record to pass within 560 kilometers of Hawaii, according to the National Weather Service. The last was Hurricane John in 1994.
