All roads now open
The Hawaii Department of Forestry reports the brush fire near Waikoloa is 95% contained and away from any public roadways. Hawaii Fire Department reports that all roadways are OPEN at this time. Please drive with caution as fire suppression operations continue.
5am Hurricane Hector Update
The satellite presentation of Hurricane Hector has improved overnight, with a well defined 10 to 15 nautical mile wide eye surrounded by a large ring of -70 to -80 Celsius cloud tops. The latest subjective Dvorak current intensity estimates from SAB and JTWC came in at 6.5 (127 knots), while PHFO came in at 6.0 (115 knots). The latest estimate using the Advanced Dvorak technique from UW-CIMSS yielded 6.8 (135 […]
Hurricane Hector Update
Hector continues to maintain a 10-15 n mi wide eye surrounded by a ring of -60 to -70 degrees Celsius cloud tops. The eye has become slightly less distinct this morning and recent microwave data suggest that an eyewall replacement cycle could be occurring. A 1111 UTC AMSR2 microwave overpass shows a double eyewall structure with the inner eyewall open to the southwest. The various subjective and objective satellite estimates […]
Road closure update 5am
This is a Civil Defense brush fire road closure update for Saturday, August 4 at 5:00 in the morning. Hawaii Fire Department reports the following roads remain closed due to the Waikoloa brush fire: Highway 190 between the Waikoloa Road junction and Kaiminani Drive. Hwy 190 between Kaiminani Drive and Puu Lani Ranch is open to local traffic only. Daniel K. Inouye Hwy between the Old Saddle Road junction and […]
Waikoloa Road is now open
The Hawaii Police Department reports that Waikoloa Road is now open to traffic. Motorists will have to take a left turn onto Highway 190 (toward Waimea) as Highway 190 remains closed south of Waikoloa Road. New Saddle Road remains closed from the 43 mile marker west to Highway 190. Old Saddle Road is open to traffic. Highway 190 remains closed from Waikoloa Road south to Puulani Ranch. Highway 190 is […]
Fire Update 3:00PM
Hawaii Fire Department reports the following roads remain closed due to the Waikoloa brush fire: • Highway 190 between the Old Saddle Road junction and Kaiminani Drive. • Hwy 190 between Kaiminani Drive and Puu Lani Ranch is open to local traffic only. • Waikoloa Road between Waikoloa Village and Highway 190 junction. • Daniel K. Inouye Hwy between the Old Saddle Road junction and Hwy 190 junction. For motorists […]
Hurricane Hector Update
The satellite presentation of Hector has degraded over the past several hours, with only occasional hints of an eye in the latest imagery. More notably, an AMSR2 microwave pass at 0945Z shows a secondary eyewall structure beginning, with a ring of convection noted at about a 30 n mi radius. All these data indicate that Hector has weakened, so the initial wind speed is conservatively reduced to 80 kt, near […]
Hector Reaches Hurricane Force
Having formed as a tropical storm Wednesday, Hector reached hurricane status this morning and is continuing its march toward the Central Pacific. Packing maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and moving west at 14 mph, Hector was about 2,026 miles east-southeast of Hilo as of 5 a.m. Officials at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said they expect Hector to continue to strengthen and proceed on its current course over the […]