First Alert Forecast: Hang on to your papale, it’s gonna get windy!

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – It’s going to get windy… and that’s likely to start sometime Wednesday evening. The strong winds won’t bedirectly from Hurricane Lowell. The storm will be too far south to directly impact us. But Lowell’s presence to our south will create what’s called a pressure gradient, and that will crank up our trade winds.

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Generally speaking through the Labor Day weekend, winds will be ENE 15-25 mph with gusts to 35+. Areas that are in higher elevations, downslope or in valleys could see stronger gusts. Wind Advisories may be issued. The trades will be wet at times mainly windward and mauka, with copious amounts of sunshine.

The good news is that the quickly strengthening storm will stay to the south. That’s according to the latest track forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Lowell is already a category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph. It’s now expected to be a category 4 storm by Wednesday morning as it passes with winds of 150 mph.

The NHC forecast and almost all weather models have Lowell clearing the islands and then turning northward and passing the island chain to our west. The timing of that turn is an important point of discussion as an earlier turn could change things dramatically. If you were here in 1992, you know what I’m talking about (Iniki).

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Surf is growing in size along west, south, and east shores. A new south swell will peak tomorrow in the 6-8 foot range, just short of advisory level. A Karina swell could arrive as early as tonight for east shores. Energy from Lowell will add to the fun along south and east shores as early as tomorrow.

View the latest weather conditions here.

Download the HNN Weather app from the Apple App Store or Google Play for the latest updates from your First Alert Weather Team: chief meteorologist Jennifer Robbins and weather anchors Guy Hagi, Dan Cooke, Ben Gutierrez, and Billy V.

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