Jimena May Recurve Toward Hawaii Following Labor Day

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

September 4,2015; 10:48PM,EDT

 

 

There is a significant chance that Jimena will turn back toward Hawaii and threaten the islands during the second week of September.
As of Friday evening, local time, Jimena was located about 620 miles (995 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii, and was moving to the north-northwest at 3 mph (6 km/h).
High pressure to the north is expected to strengthen and begin to alter the path of Jimena this weekend.

According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck, "The strengthening high is due to Ignacio hanging on. The high will block the path of Jimena and is likely to turn the storm to the west later this weekend."
From there, depending on how much the high builds, the system could turn more to the southwest or continue moving toward the west.
During much of the weekend the strength of Jimena will range between a tropical storm to a minimal hurricane with a gradual decrease in strength.
According to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski, typically, the vast majority of tropical systems that track southwestward tend to weaken, due to atmospheric physics.
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"There has never been a full-blown tropical storm or hurricane approach and strike Hawaii from the northeast, from that part of the Pacific, based on records since 1950," Kottlowski said.
There is a chance the system could maintain itself that long due to unusually warm waters in the region.
Surf conditions will remain relatively rough around Hawaii this weekend due to Jimena to the northeast and Ignacio well to the north.
"Surf will build as Jimena moves closer to the islands next week," Smerbeck said. "But, how rough it gets and whether or not there will be an increase in squalls with drenching showers and gusty thunderstorms will depend on the track and strength of the system."
The 2015 hurricane season has been very active in the central Pacific and is likely to continue through the month and into October, due in a large part to El Niño.