Hurricane Lane, a Category 5 hurricane expected to bring whipping winds and a massive storm surge, could make landfall on Hawaii’s Big Island by Wednesday afternoon.
Hurricane-force winds are bound to crash over most of the Hawaiian islands, Gavin Shigesato, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told reporters Wednesday. The storm is headed for the Big Island and will then hit Maui and Oahu sometime Thursday, he said.
The storm is generating 155 mile-per-hour winds and was travelling west-northwest toward Hawaii at about 9 m.p.h. Tuesday night, Shigesato said. “It’s still a very strong storm,” he added. (RELATED: Hurricane Irma Has Maintained 185 MPH Winds Longer Than Any Other Storm In The Satellite Era)
Hurricane Lane strengthened to a Category 5 storm late Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph as it moved closer to Hawaii: https://t.co/5PyMoLbQT8 pic.twitter.com/8YzhZP55Vk
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 22, 2018
Lane could bring tornadoes and large waterspouts, and the National Weather Service is warning residents to prepare for massive property damage with some areas being “uninhabitable for weeks.” It would be the first major storm to make landfall in the U.S. in 2018.
The storm is unlikely to be as powerful as Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 that wiped out Puerto Rico on its way to being the third-longest-living Category 5 hurricane on record, including the pre-satellite era.
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