Ela to Bypass Hawaii This Weekend

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

July 9,2015; 10:53PM,EDT

 

 

Tropical Depression Ela will pass north of Hawaii this weekend, but the islands will escape significant impacts.
Ela is currently spinning several hundred miles east of Hilo, Hawaii, and tracking in a northwest fashion. Such a path will take Ela north of Hawaii this weekend with a gradual weakening trend expected.

The combination of disruptive wind shear and cooler waters has caused Ela to weaken back to a tropical depression with no potential for future re-strengthening.
With Ela set to remain relatively weak as it passes by about 150 to 250 miles to the north, Hawaii will escape significant impacts.
"There will be a couple of rain bands spreading across Hawaii, especially the northwestern islands, this weekend," stated AccuWeather Tropical Weather Expert Dan Kottlowski.
An increase in surf and rip currents will occur in an east-to-west fashion Friday through Saturday along the north- and east-facing beaches.
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"But the rain bands and surf will not be anything extremely unusual to what Hawaii typically experiences with a trade wind pattern," Kottlowski continued.
While they map escape the worst of Ela, residents of Hawaii should not let their guard down this hurricane season.
"This could be another busy year again for Hawaii, in terms of tropical systems passing nearby, as the effect of El Niño continues and perhaps reaches a peak during hurricane season," Kottlowski said.
El Niño, with its warmer-than-average water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, began to ramp up during the latter half of 2014.

Hawaii saw two developed tropical systems pass close by during 2014. One was Iselle, which made landfall on the Big Island of Hawaii as a tropical storm on Aug. 7. Another well-developed system, named Ana, impacted the islands during the middle of October.
Once a powerful Category 4 hurricane, Iselle was the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall on the Big Island on record. Iselle caused downed trees, power outages, large waves and property damage along with flooding rain and travel disruptions.
Ana passed just to the south and west of the islands as a hurricane and produced locally heavy rain.
Other systems such as Wali, Genevieve and Julio either passed well away from the islands or had minimal effect on Hawaii during 2014.
Hurricanes in the Central Pacific are uncommon with three or four named, but relatively weak systems per year over the entire basin.