Tropical Storm Fernanda is expected to peak at hurricane status by Thursday afternoon before weakening as it travels south of the islands, weather forecasters said.
Fernanda was at tropical storm strength Tuesday evening with sustained winds of 50 mph and higher gusts east-southeast of Hawaii, as the storm headed toward the Central Pacific.
Tropical storm-force winds extended 70 miles east and 50 miles west of the center Tuesday night.
Fernanda, about 1,400 miles east-southeast of South Point on Hawaii island Tuesday night, was traveling 10 mph and was expected to turn a little west-northwest.
National Hurricane Center forecasters said late Tuesday morning that the storm "has gone through an interesting evolution on satellite the past several hours." They explained that the latest imagery of the storm shows none of the shearing that was seen last night.
Also, the storm is farther south than originally estimated, so the storm should have a longer time in environmental conditions conducive for strengthening, forecasters said.
National Weather Service forecaster Henry Lau said Fernanda is expected to peak at about 75 mph by Thursday afternoon.
"From that point on it weakens," Lau said.
Lau said Fernanda will lose its strength as it enters cooler waters to the north, and a wind shear from the east is also expected to weaken it.
He said Fernanda was too far south to affect Hawaii weather much, if any, although it might increase the tradewinds because of low pressure from the south.
Fernanda is still forecast to weaken considerably as it approaches to the south of Hawaii island Sunday.
The National Weather Service’s Honolulu office said it seems that Fernanda will stay south of the islands as a "nontropical remnant storm" based on the current trend.
The National Weather Service said forecasters are keeping a close eye on the system, since this period of the year is hurricane season.
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center on Oahu will take over monitoring the storm once it passes into the Central Pacific.
