Hawaii Preps for Hurricane Flossie

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- Hurricane Flossie churned toward Hawaii with 135 mph winds early Monday, but forecasters predicted the Category 4 storm would weaken before passing by the islands.
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Hurricane Flossie at 5:35 a.m. ET Monday.

The hurricane was expected to pass about 70 miles south of the island of Hawaii late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but by then cooler water should weaken it to a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of at least 74 mph.

However, forecasters warned that even a slight change of course in the unpredictable storm could bring it closer to land.

At 5 a.m. ET, Flossie was about 585 miles east-southeast of Hilo, and had maximum sustained wind near 135 mph. It was traveling west-northwest at about 14 mph.

Emergency workers mobilized Sunday afternoon to prepare for the potentially devastating hurricane, Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said.

"You always prepare for the worst case scenario and hope for the best," Kim said.

Two Air Force WC-130 hurricane tracker aircraft were dispatched from Mississippi and flew into the storm to gather measurements Sunday afternoon, said Roy Matsuda, lead forecaster at the Honolulu office of the National Weather Service.
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Even though the eye of the storm may miss the Hawaiian islands, Flossie could still bring strong wind and heavy rain to the islands, forecasters said.

The southeastern shore of the Big Island of Hawaii could see waves of 8 to 12 feet, forecasters said, with the surf rising during the day Monday and peaking Tuesday. The island's South Point is the southernmost area of the United States.

The last time a hurricane hit Hawaii was in 1992, when Iniki ravaged Kauai, killing six people and causing $2.5 billion in damage.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. In May, forecasters said the Hawaiian islands and the rest of the central Pacific faced a slightly below-average hurricane season, with just two or three tropical cyclones expected because of lower sea surface temperatures.

The islands get an average of 4.5 tropical cyclones a year and one hurricane about every 15 years. Last year, the central Pacific had five tropical cyclones after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted two to three.

On July 21, a tropical depression moved past the Big Island, bringing a few inches of rain to the parched island but no major problems. Cosme, the year's first Pacific tropical cyclone, reached hurricane status for a day before it weakened.