Tropical Storm Ignacio to Bring Big Surf to Hawaii This Week

By Chyna Glenn, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

September 2,2015; 10:54PM,EDT

 

 

Ignacio weakened to a tropical storm as it moves north of Hawaii, but the worst of Ignacio will miss the islands this week.
While there were three major hurricanes churning in the Pacific Ocean this past weekend with Ignacio joining Hurricane Jimena and Hurricane Kilo in achieving that status, Ignacio dropped below Category 3 status on Monday morning.
Latest indications point toward Jimena remaining over the open waters of the Pacific this week, posing only hazards to shipping interests. Tropical Depression 14 formed on Monday and will make a track toward Mexico. Ignacio, on the other hand, will pass just north of Hawaii with some impact on the islands.
The good news is that based on the current track of Ignacio, Hawaii will escape the worst of the tropical system.

Ignacio is nearly 350 miles north of Honolulu, Hawaii, and is forecast to continue to move northwestward through Thursday.
"Ignacio will pass to the north of the Hawaiian Islands, impacting the islands with rough surf and strong rip currents," warned AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike LeSeney.

High Surf Warnings on the Big Island, Hawaii

The threat for rip currents and rough seas increase across the Hawaiian Islands with the potential to be dangerous for bathers and borders.

This satellite image of Ignacio is courtesy of NOAA.
The northwestward movement will bring Ignacio into an environment of cooler ocean waters, drier air and increasing shear.
Wind shear is the change in direction and speed of the air through different levels of the atmosphere.
These factors will cause Ignacio to continue to weaken this week.
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As Ignacio treks to the north of Hawaii, the heaviest rain and damaging winds will bypass the islands. Locally heavy showers and gusty winds from squalls can occur in some communities through Wednesday. Seas will be most dangerous to boaters and swimmers at the north-facing beaches.

Hurricane Jimena is not expected to be a threat to the islands. The system will likely turn to the north long before reaching Hawaii.
Kilo has crossed into the western Pacific basin and continues to move away from Hawaii. Since the system is in the western Pacific, it is now called a typhoon.
A trio of Category 4 hurricanes occurred in the Pacific on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015: Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena. This was the first time on record that there were three Category 4 hurricanes at the same time in the central and eastern Pacific basins. (Image/NASA). During Hiki, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center reports the Kanalohuluhulu Ranger Station on Kauai measured more than 52 inches of rain between noon on Aug. 14 and noon of Aug. 18.
"Such heavy totals likely resulted from Hiki turning to the southwest, allowing tropical moisture to be fed into Kauai," stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski. "With Ignacio set to maintain its northwest heading, a repeat of such extreme rainfall is not expected."
The above-average number of tropical systems impacting Hawaii this year can be attributed to El Niño.
AccuWeather Meteorologists Chyna Glenn and Alex Sosnowski contributed content to this story.