1 storm moves away, another weakens south of Hawaii
Tropical Depression 6E, which formed in the eastern Pacific over the weekend, is captured at 7 p.m. Sunday by the GOES-15 geostationary satellite. Hawaii is in the upper left corner of the image. Tropical cyclone activity usually increases in El Nino years such as 2015.
Former Tropical Storm Iune weakened to a tropical depression far south of Hawaii Sunday morning and is expected to continue to weaken as it moves away from the state. It’s one of five storms that formed in the Eastern and Central Pacific over the last week.
Iune was about 550 miles south-southwest of Lihue,moving to the westsouthwest at 9 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. Iune sent some high clouds over Hawaii, which may have cooled conditions slightly Saturday, but had no other effect on the state’s weather.
Tropical Storm Halola is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon Monday, as it moved into the Western Pacific from the Central Pacific. At 11 a.m. Hawaii time, the center of Halola was about 990 miles east-southeast of Wake Island, heading to the west-northwest at 13 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
Neither storm was expected to affect the weather in Hawaii. That’s not the case for what’s left of Tropical Storm Ela. The former storm continues to dissipate, but it brought tropical moisture to the islands, rains and oppressive humidity Saturday and Sunday.
In the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression 6E formed overnight and was expected to strengthen into a tropical storm Sunday night. The storm system was about 1,225 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California at 11 a.m. Sunday, moving west-northwest at 7 mph. Forecasters said it is too early to tell if the storm will move close to Hawaii.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dolores is strengthening out in the Pacific off Mexico’s southwest coast and could become a hurricane on Monday.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Dolores was centered about 215 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, at 1 p.m. Hawaii time. Top sustained winds reached 50 mph and Dolores is moving west-northwest at 12 mph.
Forecasters said a strengthening Dolores could reach hurricane status Monday as it tracks offshore, moving roughly parallel to the coast of southwestern Mexico. A tropical storm watch is in effect for Lazaro Cardenas to Cabo Corrientes.
Forecasters said outer rain bands from the storm are starting to reach the coast and total rainfall of 2 to 4 inches are expected, more in some areas.
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The Associated Press contributed to this story.
