Hurricane Lowell exploded to Category 5 strength on Wednesday afternoon with 160-mph winds, and its forecast track is shifting north, putting Hawaii in growing danger later this week.
Lowell is only the seventh hurricane on record to reach Category 5 in the central Pacific, and the first since Hurricane Walaka in 2018. The storm went from a 70-mph tropical storm to a 160-mph monster in just over 30 hours, one of the most rapid intensifications the basin has seen.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Lowell was about 445 miles south of Hilo, moving west at 10 mph. Lowell is likely not done intensifying. In its Wednesday afternoon update, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center noted that the storm is, "moving over a region of very high oceanic heat content in a low shear environment, further near-term intensification remains possible."
What's more concerning is what Lowell does over Labor Day weekend. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center warned that the storm is likely to take "a sharp turn toward the north or north-northeast" by Sunday. That would take the storm dangerously close to the western Hawaiian islands, potentially still at major hurricane strength.
About 1,000 miles to the east, Hurricane Karina held strong as a Category 4 storm with 145-mph winds, moving west-northwest. The rare sight of two major hurricanes operating so close together highlights a troubling reality. Pacific ocean temperatures are extraordinarily warm, supercharged by a rapidly strengthening El Niño.
Karina is expected to weaken over the next several days. But that storm will ultimately have an impact on where Lowell ends up.
The atmospheric pattern over the Pacific Ocean is very active and dynamic right now. A storm system over the central Pacific, remnants of former hurricane Etau will intensify and dig southward towards Hawaii over the weekend. That storm system will first run into Karina, absorbing what's left of the storm, and then will bend the jet stream, capturing hurricane Lowell and directing the storm towards Hawaii late this weekend.
Tropical storm Marie continued to intensify on Wednesday as well. The storm will likely reach hurricane status by Thursday morning, but will continue to track to the west and out to sea.
The hurricane center advised that Lowell's forecasted track is likely to change several times over the coming days.
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This article originally published at Hurricane Lowell reaches Category 5 and is still intensifying; track shifts toward Hawaii.