Hurricane Ignacio has weakened

The National Weather Service canceled a tropical storm watch for Maui County and Hawaii island Sunday as a weakening Hurricane Ignacio tracked northwest on its approach toward Hawaii.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, Ignacio was about 355 miles east of Hilo and 545 miles east of Honolulu, moving northwest at 12 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended 30 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds extended outward 160 miles.

The storm peaked as a Category 4 hurricane Friday and Saturday before being downgraded to Category 3 on Sunday, as maximum sustained winds dwindled to 115 miles per hour from 140 mph.

Wind shear is expected to weaken the storm dramatically over the next two days. However, Ignacio is still expected to bring breezy winds and rain, possibly heavy showers, as it passes about 200 miles north of the islands Monday through Wednesday, and will leave humid tropical weather conditions in its wake.

“Ignacio’s hours as a hurricane, much less a major one, are numbered,” forecasters from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said.

But Ignacio is one of three major hurricanes in the northern Pacific.

Farther east but headed toward the Central Pacific is Category 4 Hurricane Jimena with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Fluctuations in intensity are possible during the next day or so, but Jimena is expected to remain a major hurricane through Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, Jimena was about 1,525 miles east of Hilo moving west-northwest at 16 mph.

The third hurricane is Kilo.

The National Hurricane Center is also watching an area of thunderstorms in the East Pacific that could develop into a fourth tropical cyclone.

Forecasters said the area of the storm several hundred miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, is becoming more organized in favorable conditions for development and has an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next day or two.