Former Tropical Storm Lane intensified into a hurricane Thursday afternoon and is expected to continue building in strength as it approaches the Central Pacific.

Lane, the sixth hurricane of the 2018 Pacific season, was 1,780 miles east-southeast of Hilo and moving west-northwest at 15 miles per hour as of 8 p.m. Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph from 60 mph earlier in the day. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 15 miles, tropical storm-force winds up to 60 miles.

The storm is expected to intensify into a Category 2 major hurricane (96 to 110 mph maximum sustained winds) by the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.