Tropical Storm Henriette Reaches Hurricane Status, Could Impact Hawaii by Sunday
Tropical storm Henriette, which has been gaining strength in the eastern Pacific, was upgraded to a hurricane as it continues to move steadily westward through the central Pacific Ocean about 1,600 miles east-southeast of the Hawaiian Islands.
The hurricane is expected to head northwest and then gradually begin to head west over the next five days. Forecasters are stating that as of now it does not look like the storm will make landfall, but are still keeping the possibility open, according to forecasting reports by Weather.com
The hurricane is expected to gain strength over the two, but is expected to weaken as it is met with more stable air and cooler waters on Thursday.
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Henriette was traveling northwest at 12 mph with sustained winds of 70 mph and was last spotted about 1,470 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, the National Hurricane Center in Miami revealed Monday night.
No coastal watches or warnings are currently in effect.
As occurred with Tropical storm Flossie, the climatology of tropical cyclones weakening when they approach Hawaii from the east is expected to hold true in the case of Henriette.
If the storm continues along current models it is estimated that it could have an impact on the Hawaiian Islands sometime Sunday evening or Monday local time.
This has been a relatively active season in the Eastern Pacific. On average, there are only three Eastern Pacific hurricanes by the first week of August and the amount of storms that have been witnessed so far this year do not occur until at least September.
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