Hurricane Hector is almost a Category 5 hurricane, that makes Hector the strongest central Pacific hurricane since Ioke in 2006. Visitors on the Island of Hawaii love the good news on Hurricane Hector this morning. This is shared by residents and tourists anywhere in the State of Hawaii. “We don’t need any more bad news”, Bea Israel from the Island of Hawaii Tourism Board told eTN.
Hurricane Hector is expected to touch the Big Island of Hawaii as a tropical storm on Wednesday with winds up to 39 mph, but this is no way close to the 155 mph winds the Center of the Hurricane currently pushes South of Hawaii. 157 mph would make it a category 5 hurricane. This is good news for the travel and tourism industry on Hawaii.
Authorities in Hawaii issue a tropical storm watch this morning for the Island of Hawaii, due to the possibility of tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph) brushing portions of that island Wednesday. Most State Parks will be closed, and tourists are well adviced to make it a fun day in the hotel on Wednesday.
Hector is centered more than 800 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, moving just north of due west.
With maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, it is just shy of Category 5 intensity, which begins at 157 mph. That makes Hector the strongest central Pacific hurricane since Ioke in 2006, according to Colorado State University tropical scientist Dr. Phil Klotzbach.
Hector is in an area with low vertical wind shear, which has allowed it to intensify into a powerful hurricane. The increasingly drier air along Hector’s future path will induce slow weakening over the next few days.
Forecast guidance is now unanimous with a track of Hector’s center south of the Big Island Wednesday, then continuing westward, remaining well south of the rest of the Hawaiian Islands through Thursday.