Hurricane Kiko enters Central Pacific; expected to pass north of Hawaii

Hurricane Kiko entered the Central Pacific today as a compact but powerful Category 4 storm, however, forecasters expect it to begin weakening Sunday as it heads north of the Hawaiian islands.

The latest five-day forecast track no longer has the islands in Kiko’s so-called cone of uncertainty, but the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu stressed that people in Hawaii should continue to monitor its progress.

“Kiko’s current forecast track is north of the islands across the far northern offshore waters. While confidence is low concerning Kiko’s impacts to Hawaii early to mid-next week, there is a possibly of higher statewide rainfall, ” National Weather Service forecasters said.

Saturday morning, Kiko had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, moving west-northwest at 12 mph and was centered , 205 east-southeast of Honolulu, according to CPHC forecasters. Kiko’s hurricane-force winds extend up to 25 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds up to 80 miles outward, they said.

“Kiko is forecast to approach the Hawaiian islands during the early to middle portion of next week. Impacts from rain and wind are possible over portions of the Islands, but it is still too soon to determine the exact location or magnitude of these potential impacts, ” forecasters said.