Hurricane Lala lashing Hawaii with high winds, flooding rains
The storm achieved hurricane strength on Saturday on approach to Hawaii’s Big Island
Lala grew into a hurricane on Saturday as the large and well-organized storm lashed Hawaii’s Big Island with high winds and heavy rainfall.
The state declared a state of emergency on Friday to make sure the state has adequate resources to for preparation and cleanup efforts.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the Big Island, while the rest of Hawaii’s populated islands remain under a tropical storm warning this weekend.
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Wind gusts of 70+ km/h and very heavy rainfall spread over the Big Island as the storm approached the region Saturday morning local time. Hawaii is six hours behind the Eastern Time Zone.
The well-defined eye of the storm will come very close to making landfall on the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island during the day Saturday.
Hurricane Lala’s impacts are baked in whether or not the very centre of the eye makes landfall on the Big Island. No full-fledged hurricanes have hit Hawaii since Iniki in 1992. The most recent tropical storm to make landfall here was Olivia in 2018.
The storm will continue moving west over the next couple of days. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects tropical storm conditions to reach Maui during the day Saturday, Oahu by Saturday night, and Kauai by Sunday.
Rainfall amounts of 200-300+ mm are forecast across the islands, with localized totals up to 635 mm possible on the Big Island. Life-threatening flash flooding and landslides are possible.
Dangerous swells and rip currents will continue along exposed east- and south-facing shores over the next few days as the storm passes the region. Some coastal communities could experience a storm surge up to 1 metre deep.
Tropical impacts in Hawaii are common, with storms hundreds of kilometres away often causing high surf and strong winds. However, a tropical system moving this close to the islands is a rare feat.
Significant recent storms include Hurricane Douglas (2020), which narrowly missed Oahu, and Hurricane Olivia (2018), which made landfall in northwest Maui as a tropical storm.