Hurricane Lala strengthens while moving west away from Hawaii
A large tree branch is draped over power lines in Haleʻiwa after Lala passed south of Oahu on Sunday (Aug 16).
PHOTO: Associated Press
MIAMI — A storm system moving west away from Hawaii has quickly strengthened into a Category three hurricane, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Tuesday (Aug 18).
The hurricane was about 535km south-southeast of Maro Reef, the hurricane centre said.
The storm was moving west-northwest at 205kph.
The hurricane centre called it the first major hurricane of 2026 in the Central Pacific.
Forecasters said they expected the storm to remain a hurricane for the next several days. They predicted it would strengthen tonight before slowly weakening.
A hurricane warning was issued for the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
A warning means hurricane conditions are expected in roughly 36 hours.
The storm had battered parts of Hawaii Sunday as it passed by without making landfall and weakened from a hurricane into a tropical storm. Crews were working to clean up and restore power in parts of the state.
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