Tropical Storm Fernanda in the Eastern Pacific is expected to grow into a major hurricane over the next several days as it heads toward the Central Pacific, forecasters said.
Although it’s too far away to tell how Fernanda will affect the Hawaiian Islands, “it’s heading in our general vicinity, and serves as a reminder that we are indeed in the hurricane season,” said Derek Wroe, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
“We urge everyone to prepare for the hurricane,” he said. “There is ample time for people to review a plan. If you don’t have a plan, we urge people to have that done.”
Wroe said at 6 p.m. Wednesday that the storm was about 2,800 miles east-southeast of Hawaii island, and nearly a week away.
Fernanda is expected to grow into a hurricane by Friday morning and into a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, by early next week when it will be approaching the Central Pacific, forecasters said.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 5 p.m. Wednesday (Hawaii time) that the storm was about 790 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, moving west at 9 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from Fernanda’s center. The storm posed no threat to land as it moved away from Central America.
Kauai
DLNR wants public say on Lehua Island plan
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources will hold a public information meeting on Kauai to discuss a proposed rat eradication project on Lehua Island.
Lehua — a 284-acre island located nearly a mile off Niihau — is managed by DLNR as a seabird sanctuary. The meeting on the Lehua Island Ecosystem Restoration Project is July 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Waimea Neighborhood Community Center.
The state wants to eradicate rats on Lehua Island to create a refuge for threatened and endangered seabirds displaced by climate change. The project, estimated to cost more than $1 million, is slated to start in August.
This is the state’s second attempt to eradicate vermin on the island. The state’s efforts in 2009 were unsuccessful.
