Hawaii Issues Emergency Declaration as Hurricane Lowell Bears Down on the Islands

Hawaii has issued a state of emergency as Hurricane Lowell advances toward the islands, with initial impacts anticipated as early as Monday.

This marks the third system to threaten the islands in just over three weeks during an active central Pacific hurricane season. Early Sunday morning, Lowell maintained Category 3 status, with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour tracking northwest at six miles per hour.

Forecasts indicate Lowell will reach Hawaii as a Category 2 hurricane, with its center potentially passing approximately 130 miles west of Ni’ihau or 170 miles west of Kauai between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

This threat arrives amid unusually intense hurricane activity across the Pacific Ocean.

As of Saturday, Hurricanes Karina, Lowell, and Marie were simultaneously churning in the Pacific, marking the region’s first triple-hurricane occurrence in a decade. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) was also tracking a fourth potential system off Mexico’s coast.

The Pacific typically averages only eight hurricanes annually, making this simultaneous occurrence highly unusual, according to the NHC.

Lowell’s projected offshore trajectory is expected to keep the storm’s most dangerous winds at a distance from the Hawaiian islands. However, heavy rainfall, high surf, and hazardous coastal conditions are still anticipated.

A tropical storm warning is currently in effect for Kauai and Ni’ihau, where wind gusts exceeding 39 miles per hour are possible over the next 48 hours.

Lowell is the third storm to strike Hawaii in recent weeks, a trend that coincides with the climate crisis continuing to heighten the intensity and frequency of storms and other extreme weather events.

Tropical Storm Moke battered the southern islands two weeks ago, bringing heavy rainfall and damaging winds, just days after Hurricane Lala struck the region.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green stated that Hurricane Lala alone caused at least $43 million in infrastructure damage on the Big Island, alongside an additional $4.6 million in residential damage.

This escalating storm activity coincides with UN warnings that the current El Niño is forecasted to become the strongest in four decades.

A statement released on Thursday characterized El Niño as being “supersized before our eyes,” adding that the world is currently in “the danger zone of extreme weather.”

The latest data on this natural climate phenomenon indicates a near 100% probability that El Niño will persist through February 2027, the statement noted. The more intense El Niño becomes, the higher the likelihood it will drastically alter global rainfall and temperature patterns, fueling extreme weather events.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has previously cautioned there is a 69% chance that this El Niño will be the strongest in 70 years.

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