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NASA/NOAA GOES PROJECT
This infrared image of Tropical Storm Jimena was captured by NOAA's GOES-West satellite early Friday morning. Jimena appears as a swirl of clouds with strongest storms on its north and eastern sides.
ACCUWEATHER.COM
This graphic from Accuweather.com shows the approximate path of Jimena and its likely impacts to the islands.
NOAA / NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
This satellite image taken Wednesday morning shows a weakened Jimena passing north of the main Hawaiian islands.
Jimena weakened to a tropical depression north of the main Hawaiian islands as it continued to cut off the tradewinds, bringing uncomfortable muggy weather and the chance of afternoon showers.
But forecasters warn the weather will get even more hot, muggy and rainy after Jimena starts to move away.
“After it gets west or northwest of us is when the potential for heavy rainfall will increase,” said Tom Birchard, a meteorologist with the Honolulu office of the National Weather Service. “There’s a bit of a tail of convergence that will extend from Jimena to the southeast with lots of moisture.”
For Wednesday, forecasters expect light, variable winds, muggy conditions, and sunny conditions in the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon into the evening with scattered showers.
The vog that had been over Oahu over the weekend, may move south, but will likely return when winds turn southerly after Jimena passes, Birchard said.
At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jimena’s sustained winds were at 35 mph, about 320 miles north-northeast of Honolulu and 330 miles northeast of Lihue. The storm was moving west-southwest at 9 mph.
“The latest forecast from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu was showing Jimena, or its remnants, moving west and reaching the closest point to the main Hawaiian islands around Thursday afternoon. This may bring a return to deep tropical moisture, a more southerly flow and unstable conditions across the islands. Therefore, there could be another round of heavy rain during the second half of the work week and into the upcoming weekend,” the weather service said in forecast advisory.
Burchard said the moisture over the state from Jimena may clear by the end of the weekend and tradewinds could return early next week.
But the weather will likely remain hotter and more humid than normal through the end of October because of unusually warm ocean temperatures around Hawaii from El Nino.
“It will be fairly warm and fairly humid for the next two months,” Burchard said.
