Tropical Depression Two-C Forms Southeast of Hawaii
A new tropical depression has formed to the southeast of Hawaii and could bring some impacts to areas recently hit by Hurricane Lala.
As of 5 a.m. HST (11 a.m. EDT), Tropical Depression Two-C was located near 11.9N, 143.1W, or about 960 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. Two-C is moving toward the west-northwest at 16 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. Its central pressure is 29.71 inches, or 1006 mb.
Tropical Depression Two-C is expected to gradually strengthen over the next couple of days and should become a tropical storm later today or tonight as the system continues to move toward the west-northwest. Two-C will gradually move more toward the northwest on Friday and Saturday before turning a bit more toward the west later this weekend into early next week.
On this path, Tropical Depression Two-C is expected to remain south of the Hawaii islands later this weekend and early next week. However, depending on the exact track and strength of the system, outer rain bands are likely to move across the Big Island Saturday night and Sunday.
Should this system track close enough to the Big Island, rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches will be possible this weekend, with locally higher amounts possible. These are the same areas where Hurricane Lala recently produced in excess of 20 inches of rainfall just within the last week. The additional rainfall from Tropical Depression Two-C will lead to life-threatening flooding and mudslides, in addition to bringing the risk for power outages.
A general 1 to 3 inches of rain will be possible across the rest of the Hawaiian, which may result in local instances of flooding and mudslides. In addition, large waves are expected to impact the island chain over the weekend into early next week as the system passes south of the state.
Residents as well as visitors to the Hawaiian Islands should take extra precautions and remain informed on evacuation routes and even backup routes in case the preferred route is blocked. Non-perishable foods and clean water, as well as an electricity source to charge necessary electronics, will be very helpful in case the power goes out.