Tropical Storm Miriam continued its steady march toward Hawaii on Monday, but National Weather Service forecasters said the cyclone, expected to intensify into a hurricane, is likely to veer off to the north well before approaching the islands.

Moving west at 12 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph Monday, Miriam was expected to gain hurricane strength today before starting to turn north Wednesday and entering the waters of the Central Pacific that night or early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Forecasters said an extended area of low pressure will help steer the storm to the northeast of Hawaii. Along the way it will further intensify into a Category 2 hurricane with estimated 100 mph winds.

But with latitude, Miriam will encounter strong opposing upper-level winds and cooler sea surface temperatures, which are likely to lead to its demise, they said.

Meanwhile, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu reported that Lane was downgraded to a tropical depression again after regaining tropical storm strength Monday.

Lane, which punished Hawaii island and East Maui with torrential rain and landslides last week, was more than 500 miles west of Kauai on Monday and forecast to weaken to a post-tropical remnant low today.