Guillermo’s threat to islands ending as Tropical Storm Hilda emerges
This satellite image taken Thursday night shows Tropical Storm Hilda in the lower right corner and former Tropical Storm Guillermo north of the islands.
This is a GOES-West infrared image of newborn Tropical Storm Hilda on August 6 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT). Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
This GOES-West infrared image of Guillermo from August 6 at 1200 UTC (8 a.m. EDT) westerly wind shear continued pushing clouds and showers northeast of the center. Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
This satellite image shows the center of former Tropical Storm Guillermo north of the islands. Wind shear has cut the storm in half, separating the center of the storm from much of the thunderstorms and clouds in the upper atmosphere spreading out to the northeast of the center.
Tropical Depression Guillermo’s close encounter with the Hawaiian islands is expected to end Friday as the storm dissipates on a path just north of Oahu and Kauai.
But the state’s attention will soon turn to an emerging East Pacific tropical storm, Hilda, which is expected to become a hurricane Friday and enter the Central Pacific over the weekend.
Hilda, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph late Thursday, is expected to be hundreds of miles west of the Big Island by early next week as a tropical storm again, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Guillermo, which also started in the East Pacific, has continued to weaken just north of the islands over the last few days.
At 11 p.m. Thursday, Guillermo was 80 miles northeast of Honolulu and 150 miles east of Lihue, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and higher gusts, moving west at 14 mph.
“Guillermo is expected to gradually weaken, and is forecast to become a remnant low Friday with dissipation expected on Saturday,” forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said late Thursday.
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Guillermo’s strongest winds are mostly in the northeast quadrant, away from the islands.
There were no storm watches or warnings for any island.
Guillermo will bring scattered showers over the state through early Friday, mainly for windward areas, forecasters said. A normal tradewind pattern will return later Friday and Saturday, they said.
Surf generated by Guillermo prompted a high surf warning for east shores of Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai with waves of 10 to 15 feet expected through 6 a.m. Friday, and a high surf advisory for eastern shores of Hawaii island also until 6 a.m., with waves of 8 to 12 feet. A small craft advisory is in effect for waters off Kauai and Oahu through Friday evening.
Honolulu lifeguards urged people to stay off shoreline ledges, where waves could wash people into the ocean and said only experts should be in the water.
Highs across the state are expected to be between 86 and 91 degrees. Hilo tied a record high temperature Thursday hitting the 88 degree record set in 1959.
Meanwhile, while Tropical Storm Hilda is on a path similar to Guillermo, forecasters said it’s too soon to say how it will affect Hawaii’s weather, if at all, next week.
Hilda, the 10th named storm in the Eastern Pacific this hurricane season, was about 1,340 miles east-southeast of Hilo with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph at 2 a.m. Friday, moving west at 13 mph.
