Two features in the Central and Eastern Pacific, Greg and Fernanda, could influence the wind pattern across the Hawaiian Islands to some degree.
Published Aug 15, 2023 12:27 PM EDT | Updated Aug 16, 2023 6:58 PM EDT
AccuWeather forecasters are closely monitoring several features across the Pacific waters this week and any impacts they may bring, with all eyes on the Aloha State following the tragic wildfires that spread across Maui, the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands.
Greg, a tropical storm in the Central Pacific, was more than 600 miles to the southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and traveling to the west at 14 mph on Wednesday. Over the coming days, Greg will slide to the south of Hawaii and take a gradual west-northwest turn from the middle to late part of this week.
Greg to churn south of Hawaii this week
Looking at the broader weather pattern across the region, AccuWeather meteorologists say that an area of high pressure located over the northeast Pacific Ocean combined with Greg's circulation south of Hawaii can play a role in the trade winds across the islands. Moderate trade winds can push across the region between Tuesday and Thursday as the high pressure persists to the north of Hawaii and Greg continues to churn well to the south.
An AccuWeather Enhanced RealVue™ Satellite image of the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, Aug. 15, showed Tropical Storm Greg spinning well to the southeast of Hawaii and Hurricane Fernanda circulating even farther east across the basin.
Because Greg is a less intense storm than Dora was, and the zone of high pressure to the north is not as strong as last week's, the breezy conditions will not be as strong as those that fanned the destructive blazes across the islands several days ago.
Although this feature is not expected to bring any direct impacts to land, Greg can influence the ocean waters.
"Greg can bring elevated wave heights and strong rip currents to the south-facing beaches of the Big Island from the mid- to late week as it passes well south of Hawaii," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said.
A small craft advisory was issued for the waters near Maui and the Big Island through 6 p.m. HST Thursday as a result of the potential hazards to small vessels.
Fernanda to shift westward across the East Pacific and approach Hawaiian Islands
Hurricane Fernanda was located well to the southwest of Mexico and was several hundreds of miles from the nearest landmass on Wednesday. Fernanda was a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
The wind field of hurricane-force winds from Fernanda extends outward up to 25 miles from the storm's center as it tracks across the East Pacific.
Through the end of this week and into this weekend, Fernanda will travel in a generally westward path across the East Pacific basin and gradually lose wind intensity.
"By the end of the week, Fernanda is likely to fall below tropical cyclone intensity," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty.
Near the end of the weekend into early next week, the remaining circulation of Fernanda can pass across the Hawaiian Islands and bring shower activity and locally gusty winds to the region.
"Fernanda could bring enhanced showers to windward portions of the islands Sunday into Monday, but there may not be too much moisture associated with it since it will be long past dissipated," said Douty.
The uptick in winds across the Hawaiian Islands can cause any existing wildfires to be more challenging to control and pose a risk for any residents in the path of wildfires in Maui.
AccuWeather forecasters expect Hilary to trigger flooding in southwest US
A tropical disturbance AccuWeather meteorologists have had their eye on for more than a week has developed into a tropical storm.
Tropical Storm Hilary will likely bring rain heavy enough to cause major flooding problems from Southern California to Arizona starting this weekend after blasting Mexico's Baja peninsula with high winds, flooding rain and coastal flooding late this week and early this weekend.
Additionally, there is a low chance for new development early next week off the southern coast of Mexico.
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