HONOLULU (AP) – Hurricane Kiko followed north of the Hawaiian islands, which reduced the threat of strong wind and widespread rain, said the National Weather Service on Saturday.
Kiko was about 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) southeast of Hilo on the Big Island on Saturday morning and was expected to approach the state early next week. Maximum persistent winds were 130 mph (215 km / h), the weather service said.
Kiko was expected to gradually weaken in the coming days in a category 4-orkaan on Saturday.
On Friday acting Hawaii Gov. Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation in which he stated a state of emergency to prepare for potentially bad weather from Kiko.
“The threat for every wind decreases,” said Joseph Clark, a meteorologist at De Weerservice in Honolulu, Saturday. “Now that the storm is going north, it tends to actually make the wind lighter than normal over the islands. So if the current track keeps up, the wind will be quite light and it can be hot and stuffy without much wind.”
Every rain will be isolated, saving Hawaii from widespread, heavy rainfall, he said.
Kiko brings swelling that is expected to start reaching the Big Island and Maui by Sunday. The weather service warned of potentially life -threatening cracking flows and surfing along east banks that are expected to reach 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters), which can cause a few strongerosis problems.
Meteorologists felt confident about the path of Kiko north of Hawaii, but Clark said things can change. If the weather shifts further south, it would increase the chance of heavy rainfall, but if it shifts further to the north, the threat of Kiko decreases further, he said.
