Hurricane Lane gathered significant power Friday as it continued its westward advance toward the Central Pacific and the Hawaiian islands.

The sixth major storm of the 2018 hurricane season in the Pacific, Lane intensified into a Category 2 major hurricane — defined as having maximum sustained winds of 96 to 110 miles per hour — overnight from Thursday to Friday.

The storm continued to strengthen over the course of the day, becoming a Category 3 hurricane (maximum sustained winds of 111 to 129 mph) by late afternoon.

Lane was 1,405 miles east-southeast of Hilo as of 5 p.m. Friday and was moving west at 16 mph. Maximum sustained winds were measured at 120 miles per hour.

Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 25 miles from the center; tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 105 miles.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Florida predicted that Lane would cross into the Central Pacific by Saturday and was likely to intensify into a Category 4 hurricane (maximum sustained winds of 130-156 mph).

Current models indicated the storm likely will pass to the south of the state.

The National Weather Service said it was too early to forecast the storm’s potential impact on local weather.