Hawaii Remains in Path of Tropical Storm Flossie

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

July 27,2013; 4:10PM,EDT

 

 

Tropical Storm Flossie is weakening, but is still expected to cross Hawaii early next week.
Flossie was close to hurricane intensity Friday night, then encountered cooler waters and started to weaken Saturday morning.
That weakening trend will persist through early next week as Flossie maintains its path toward Hawaii.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists expect Flossie to weaken to a tropical rainstorm before crossing the Big Island later Monday or Monday night.
RELATED:
Dorian's Impacts to Northern Caribbean Islands
Latest Statistics on Flossie
AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center
Enhanced shower activity from Flossie will still spread from east to west across the Hawaiian islands late Monday through Tuesday night.
Some of the showers will be drenching and gusty, heightening concerns for localized flash flooding and mudslides. That is especially true from the Big Island to Molokai.
Despite those dangers, the rain from Flossie will be beneficial in terms of easing the state's rainfall deficit.
A report from the United States Drought Monitor, released on Thursday, July 25, stated that 86.5 percent of Hawaii was abnormally dry. Severe to extreme drought conditions were observed on parts of the Big Island and Maui.

Flossie will also cause rough surf to develop in an east-to-west fashion across all of the Hawaiian islands Monday through Tuesday, creating dangers for surfers and beachgoers.
In addition, residents and visitors may even see rare flashes of lightning.
It is rare for a tropical storm or hurricane to strike Hawaii due to the cool waters that typically lie to the east.
Only two hurricanes have made landfall in Hawaii since 1950 and both arrived from the warmer waters to the south.
Hurricane Iniki from 1992 was not only the last of these two hurricane, but also the last hurricane or tropical storm to slam Hawaii.