Tropical Storm Lala Update: Hawaii Braces for Rare Hurricane Landfall
- Edited by: Sagar Kar
- Updated Aug 16, 2026, 01:34 IST
Tropical Storm Lala is forecast to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches Hawaii’s Big Island, which hasn’t seen a direct hurricane landfall in 155 years.
Hawaii residents are being urged to keep a close eye on the forecast and have a hurricane plan ready.
Hawaii’s Big Island is facing a heavy soaking as Tropical Storm Lala moves closer, with forecasters warning it could turn into a full hurricane right around the time it makes its closest approach to the island. Lala began battering the largest island in the Hawaiian chain on Saturday, and forecasts suggest it will keep intensifying as it nears land. US authorities have warned that the storm could bring flooding and other dangerous conditions, urging residents across the islands to be careful.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green addressed the situation in a video message released Friday, saying Lala was forecast to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane before approaching Hawaii Island on Saturday. He warned that damaging winds, heavy rain, flash flooding and dangerous surf were all possible statewide through the weekend. Since then, Lala has indeed strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane.
A Rare Direct Hit
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the Big Island, a notable development given that the island hasn’t experienced a direct hurricane landfall in 155 years, as per a report from AFP. In its advisory issued at 15:00 GMT, the center said damaging hurricane force winds were expected on the Big Island later that day, and that tropical storm force winds had already begun.
How Much Rain and Wind to Expect
Forecasters projected that Maui and the lower elevations of the Big Island could see between 8 and 12 inches of rain. The rest of the island chain was expected to get somewhat less, in the range of 4 to 6 inches. Higher elevations on the Big Island, however, could see as much as 25 inches of rainfall.
That kind of rainfall brings its own set of dangers, including the risk of mudslides, downed power lines and fallen trees.
Officials Urge Residents to Prepare Early
With the storm’s arrival looming, officials pushed residents to get ready ahead of time rather than wait until conditions worsened. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi asked everyone to complete their storm preparations on Friday, stressing that people shouldn’t wait until the weather started to turn before taking action.
A Rare Event for the Islands
Direct hurricane hits on Hawaii are uncommon, largely due to the relatively small size of the islands combined with typical climate patterns across the surrounding ocean, even though hurricanes themselves are a regular occurrence in the wider Pacific. The last major hurricane to strike the state was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which hit the island of Kauai, killed six people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
A Broader Weather Pattern at Play
Lala’s arrival comes as scientists are anticipating a powerful El Nino pattern that could bring extreme weather to the western United States in the months ahead. El Nino develops when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific rise above normal, a shift that tends to create conditions favorable for more intense storms.
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Sagar is a journalist with an interest primarily in geopolitics and American domestic politics. Before joining Times Now, he wrote for Republic and Sw… View More
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/latest-news
