Category Four, Hundreds of Miles Away

There is a particular kind of loneliness to a storm that spins in open ocean, far from any shore, its power immense and its audience limited to satellites and the quiet attention of forecasters who track its path with the patience of astronomers watching a distant star.

Hurricane Nolo strengthened into a Category 4 storm over the weekend, carrying maximum sustained winds of 130 mph as it moved west at 12 mph, approximately 375 miles south-southwest of Honolulu and 680 miles southeast of French Frigate Shoals . The storm is expected to gradually turn toward the west-northwest, remaining well south and southwest of the main Hawaiian Islands while approaching the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument early this week .

A hurricane watch remains in effect for the monument from Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals, where hurricane conditions are possible by Wednesday . For the main Hawaiian Islands, the threat of heavy rain and flooding has diminished, but the storm's outer bands continue to bring strong and gusty winds and high surf . The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for Maui, the Big Island, Molokai, and Lanai, with east winds of 30 to 45 mph and gusts up to 75 mph expected over and downwind of terrain .

The effects are already tangible. Hawaiian Electric reported approximately 12,370 customers without power in West Maui and Upcountry, and about 3,900 customers on the windward side of Oahu . Heavy rain overnight in the Kau district caused flooding in Waiohinu, closing Highway 11 in multiple locations. Highway 250, the Kohala Mountain Road, remained closed due to high winds and hazardous conditions .

Nolo's path has been unusually erratic. Earlier in the week, forecasters had declared the system was dissipating, only for it to regenerate and intensify rapidly. It took an abrupt turn northward before being steered west by a high-pressure ridge north of the islands . The storm is now expected to weaken as it moves into cooler waters and encounters less favorable upper-level winds, but not before passing near the remote marine monument, a vast protected area stretching across the northwestern Hawaiian Islands .

The broader Pacific has been active this season, with warm ocean waters feeding a powerful El Niño pattern. Three Category 5 hurricanes—Genevieve, Lowell, and Polo—have already formed. Hurricane Lala became the first hurricane to directly hit the Big Island since accurate record-keeping began. Tropical Storm Moke and Hurricane Lowell followed in quick succession . Nolo is the latest in that sequence, a storm that will pass largely unnoticed by most of the world but will leave its mark on the remote atolls and coral reefs of the monument, and on the communities of Maui and the Big Island who spent the weekend securing their homes and waiting for the wind to quiet.

AI Image Disclaimer: The images in this article were generated by artificial intelligence and are for illustrative purposes only.

Sources: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The Weather Network, Georgia Public Broadcasting, National Hurricane Center