Hurricane Nolo approaches Hawaii as it rapidly intensifies in El Niño-charged Pacific

Hawaii’s southern islands are bracing for a brush with Hurricane Nolo, the latest in a gauntlet of Pacific storms thrown at the state during a tropical season supercharged by this year’s super El Niño .

Potentially life-threatening flooding and mudslides are again possible as the state faces its third impactful swipe from a hurricane in just six weeks.

Nolo rapidly intensified into a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph as of 2 a.m. local time Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane was about 200 miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island moving generally north.

The Big Island will see the worst of Nolo’s impacts as it continues to strengthen and makes its closest approach late Friday through Saturday local time. Extreme rain will be its most serious threat, but Nolo will also bring strong wind and dangerous seas.

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Hurricane Lala took a similarly close track to the Big Island in mid-August as a Category 1 storm and unleashed catastrophic flooding there. On the other side of the state, Hurricane Lowell delivered a blow to Kauai and Niihau in early September as a Category 2 storm.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has declared a state of emergency, the third storm-related emergency declaration this month, in anticipation of the storm’s impacts.

Nolo is expected to make its closest approach to the Big Island as a high-end Category 2 hurricane or a Category 3 major hurricane.

A few of Nolo’s outermost rainbands started to brush the Big Island Thursday night, local time. They’ll reach more of the island on Friday and spread to Maui, Lanai and Molokai by Saturday.

Ten to 15 inches of rain are possible over eastern and southern portions of the Big Island through Sunday, with up to 35 inches in the steepest terrain, according to the National Hurricane Center. Last month, the Big Island’s steep mountains helped wring more than 40 inches of rain out of Hurricane Lala’s bands, unleashing catastrophic flash flooding from which the island is still recovering.

Nolo’s rainfall is expected to be lower, but still significant on the western side of the island. Five to 8 inches of rain are possible there, but some locations could see double-digit totals.

In Maui, 4 to 8 inches are possible with isolated amounts up to 15 inches. About 1 to 3 inches of rain are expected elsewhere on the main islands.

Nolo’s close pass as a potential major hurricane means damaging winds are also a considerable threat. Tropical storm-force winds stronger than 40 mph are likely and hurricane-force winds stronger than 75 mph are possible on the Big Island’s south side Friday through at least Saturday. Stronger gusts are likely in the island’s high elevations.

State and county offices, public schools and the University of Hawaii are closed Thursday and Friday on the Big Island and will close Friday on Maui, Gov. Green said in a social media post.

County officials have opened shelters on the Big Island. “If your home flooded before, or is at risk, consider moving to safer shelter before the full force of the storm hits,” Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a Wednesday news release. “Because the ground remains saturated, flooding may happen rapidly.”

The state has also secured 100 hotel rooms for Big Island residents who wish to evacuate, Green said at a Wednesday news conference. Statewide, hundreds of people are still being housed in hotels after being displaced by earlier natural disasters, including hurricanes Lala and Lowell, Department of Human Services director Joseph Campos said at the same conference.

Offshore, dangerous seas will build and reach their peak Friday and Saturday. Rough conditions will likely last through the weekend and into next week even as the hurricane starts to track west away from the island Sunday night into Monday.

This year’s super El Nino has helped prime the Pacific to be a factory for strong tropical systems, with extremely warm ocean water and a lack of storm-killing wind shear.

Nolo is one of 19 named storms — including three Category 5 hurricanes — that have roamed the eastern and central Pacific so far and there are two full months of the season left to go. Seventeen originated in the eastern Pacific basin, which typically sees up to 15 storms in an entire season.

For the second time this month, a trio of hurricanes — Nolo, Odalys and Polo — are simultaneously churning in the Pacific.

Polo, which is still roaring off the coast of southern Mexico, is one of five storms this season that have met the criteria for extreme rapid intensification , a wind increase of 58 mph or more in 24 hours. More hurricanes are rapidly intensifying as Earth and its oceans warm from fossil fuel pollution.

夏威夷南部岛屿正严阵以待，准备迎接飓风诺洛的侵袭。这是今年受超级厄尔尼诺现象影响，热带风暴季给夏威夷带来的一系列太平洋风暴中的最新一场。

由于该州在短短六周内第三次遭受飓风的严重袭击，可能再次发生危及生命的洪水和泥石流。

据美国国家飓风中心消息，截至周五凌晨2点（当地时间），诺洛飓风迅速增强为一级飓风，持续风速达每小时85英里。该飓风位于夏威夷大岛以南约200英里处，总体向北移动。

随着“诺洛”飓风持续增强，并于当地时间周五晚至周六最接近夏威夷大岛，该岛将首当其冲。极端强降雨将是其最严重的威胁，但“诺洛”飓风也会带来强风和危险的巨浪。

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8月中旬，飓风拉拉以一级飓风的强度逼近夏威夷大岛，并在那里造成了灾难性的洪水。9月初，飓风洛厄尔以二级飓风的强度袭击了夏威夷州的考艾岛和尼豪岛。

夏威夷州州长乔什·格林宣布该州进入紧急状态，这是本月第三次因风暴而宣布进入紧急状态，以应对风暴的影响。

预计诺洛飓风将以二级飓风或三级强飓风的强度逼近夏威夷大岛。

当地时间周四晚间，诺洛台风最外围的几股雨带开始掠过夏威夷大岛。这些雨带将于周五抵达岛上更多地区，并于周六蔓延至毛伊岛、拉奈岛和莫洛凯岛。

据美国国家飓风中心预测，夏威夷大岛东部和南部地区周日之前可能出现10至15英寸的降雨，地形最陡峭的地区降雨量可能高达35英寸。上个月，大岛陡峭的山脉使得飓风“拉拉”带来的降雨量超过40英寸，引发了灾难性的山洪暴发，至今该岛仍在恢复中。

预计诺洛岛的降雨量会较低，但岛屿西部仍将出现显著降雨。该地区降雨量可能达到5至8英寸，部分地区甚至可能达到两位数。

在毛伊岛，降雨量可能达到4到8英寸，局部地区甚至可能高达15英寸。主岛其他地区预计降雨量约为1到3英寸。

诺洛飓风接近夏威夷，可能发展成强飓风，这意味着破坏性大风也构成相当大的威胁。从周五到至少周六，夏威夷大岛南侧可能出现超过40英里/小时的热带风暴级大风，以及超过75英里/小时的飓风级大风。岛上高海拔地区阵风可能更强。

州长格林在社交媒体上发帖称，夏威夷大岛的州政府和县政府办公室、公立学校以及夏威夷大学将于周四和周五关闭，毛伊岛的州政府和县政府办公室将于周五关闭。

夏威夷大岛已开放多个避难所。夏威夷县县长基莫·阿拉米达在周三的新闻稿中表示：“如果您的房屋之前曾被洪水淹没，或面临被淹风险，请考虑在风暴全面来袭前转移到更安全的避难所。由于土壤仍然饱和，洪水可能迅速发生。”

格林在周三的新闻发布会上表示，夏威夷州已为希望撤离的大岛居民预订了100间酒店客房。州人类服务部主任约瑟夫·坎波斯在同一新闻发布会上表示，全州范围内，仍有数百人因早前的自然灾害（包括拉拉飓风和洛厄尔飓风）而流离失所，目前仍被安置在酒店中。

近海海域，危险海况将在周五和周六达到顶峰。即使飓风于周日晚至周一开始向西远离该岛，恶劣海况仍可能持续到周末乃至下周。

今年的超级厄尔尼诺现象使太平洋成为强热带气旋的温床，海洋水温极高，且缺乏能够摧毁风暴的风切变。

诺洛是迄今为止在东太平洋和中太平洋肆虐的19个命名风暴之一，其中包括3个五级飓风，而飓风季还有整整两个月才结束。其中17个风暴起源于东太平洋盆地，该地区通常一个飓风季最多只会出现15个风暴。

本月第二次出现三场飓风——诺洛、奥达利斯和波洛——同时在太平洋肆虐的情况。

波洛飓风目前仍在墨西哥南部沿海肆虐，它是本季五个符合极端快速增强标准的飓风之一，即24小时内风速增加58英里/小时或以上。随着地球及其海洋因化石燃料污染而变暖，越来越多的飓风正在迅速增强。