Lowell Nearing Kauaʻi & Niʻihau

There are now only 2 storms that appear on the 7-day outlook map of the Central Pacific region. Category 3 Hurricane Lowell is the one we need to be concerned about. It is currently about 325 miles south-southwesterly of Lihue & moving north-northeasterly at about 15 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for Kauaʻi & Niʻihau where damaging winds are expected to arrive this afternoon or evening. A tropical storm watch is in effect for Oʻahu where lower speed winds are expected during the same time period. Currently Lowell has maximum sustained winds of about 115 mph with hurricane force winds extending about 60 miles from the center & tropical storm force winds extending about 175 miles. Winds are expected to gradually decrease through Tuesday but Lowell is still expected to remain a hurricane. Higher than normal rainfall is expected on all islands with Kauaʻi & Niʻihau receiving the highest amounts expected at 6" to 10". The rest of the main islands are expected to have rainfalls of 4" to 8"; my kalo will be very happy!

Marie is still around but has been downgraded to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of about 65 mph. Marie is about 705 miles southwesterly of San Diego & moving west-northwesterly at about 6 mph. Marie is expected to weaken steadily over the next couple of days, becoming a post-tropical remnant low on Wednesday. Its only effect on southern California has been in producing dangerous surf conditions.

Lowell Headed Towards Papahānaumokuākea

Category 3 Hurricane Lowell is now about 575 miles south-southwesterly of Lihue & about 595 miles southwesterly of Honolulu. Maximum sustained winds are about 125 mph & Lowell is moving north-northwesterly at about 5 mph. It is expected to increase slightly in forward speed & be crossing into the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument some time on Monday. Tropical Storm Warnings are in affect for Niʻihau & Kauaʻi.

Tropical Storm Karina is about 680 miles east-northeasterly of Hilo & blocking the tradewinds; it was extremely muggy when I woke up this morning. It has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph & is moving northwesterly at about 7 mph. It is expected to weaken tonight & become a post-tropical gale. This is likely the last post that will include Karina.

 

Hurricane Marie is about 800 miles westerly of the southern tip of Baja California. It has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph & is moving northwesterly at about 9 mph; somewhat parallel to the coastline. It is expected to continue weakening & become a post-tropical low by Wednesday.   

IASA #4-30

 

(L-R) Kanoa, Toni, & Jaime watch image from drone during search for missing water tank.

Lowell Still Moving Westward

The forecast track for Category 4 Hurricane Lowell now shows it passing a slight bit farther away from Niʻihau than it was shown yesterday. It is also quite a bit farther away than Lālā was from Hawaiʻi Island. At 8 this morning Lowell had maximum sustained winds of about 150 mph & was moving westerly at about 8 mph. It is about 575 miles south-southwesterly of Honolulu & about 610 miles southerly of Lihue. It is expected to make a sharp turn to the north on Sunday.

Hurricane Karina entered the Central Pacific region just before 5 am this morning. It is about 955 miles easterly of Hilo & moving westerly at about 10 mph. Maximum sustained winds are now about 90 mph. Although Karina is expected to gradually weaken over the next 48 hours, it is still expected to maintain hurricane-force winds.

In the Eastern Pacific region, Hurricane Marie is about 550 miles west-southwesterly of the southern tip of Baja California & moving about 9 mph west-northwesterly away from land; it is extremely unlikely it will make it close to southern California. Maximum sustained winds are about 100 mph but are expected to decrease starting tomorrow.

Lowell Now Past Moku o Keawe

Hurricane Lowell is now 450 miles south-southwesterly of Hilo & 605 miles south-southeasterly of Lihue; it passed by Hawaiʻi Island some time last night. The forecast shows Lowell turning slightly more easterly as it heads north, bringing its path closer to Niʻihau & Kauaʻi early next week. Lowell currently has maximum sustained winds speeds of about 140 mph & while speeds are expected to decrease, it will still remain in the major hurricane wind category as it heads northerly.  

Hurricane Karina will likely enter the Central Pacific region some time on Friday but it is already affecting our weather. It is about 1195 miles easterly of Hilo & moving west-northwesterly at about 12 mph; it is beginning to block the tradewinds that keep us cooler. Karina is expected to maintain its west-northwesterly movement parallel to the islands as it continues as a major hurricane for a few more days.

Hurricane Marie is apparently creating anxiety in southern California. It is about 410 miles southwesterly of the southern tip of Baja California or about 800 miles from southern California. It is moving at about 10 mph in a west-northwesterly direction; so not really going inland towards southern California. The warning cone maps also show it moving away from California & also losing strength. I think people in Hawaiʻi would be happy to see a hurricane moving away from us & losing strength rather than becoming anxious about it. But then, we have had more experience with waiting it out to see what might happen. 

Night Market Bon Odori

A bon odori was held this evening as part of the Kohala Night Market; the Kohala Jodo Mission was the main organizer of the bon odori part of the market. Joy had asked Fran & me to staff the table for the bon odori, handing out water & hachimaki to the dancers. Since I had a meeting for the NKCDP Access group to attend, I showed up to help at around 5:15; it was a short meeting so I was able to get there about a half hour earlier than expected. 

We walked around to see what the vendors had during the night market. Sandra, the leader of the Kohala ʻOno Food Hui, was there with her business Kapanaia Farms. She had a bunch of baked goods; I opted for the Peanut Butter Bites; they are small & easier for me to enforce portion control on myself! Fran treated me to a dinner of chicken hekka.

Chicken hekka.

Temptation!

 

Later, we took all the equipment back to the Kohala Jodo Mission. There was a meal provided by the KJM for the dancers & helpers. 

I started out the day by meeting hoa hānau Leilani at Kohala Rainbow Cafe at 11 for lunch. Fran was supposed to join us but her 2:30 meeting got changed to 9 so she was unable to join us. 

I noticed a feral hen with 6 new chicks wandering around in Jessie's backyard today. But later I heard squawking & saw a hen running around all fluffed out & charging at Moʻo from the other side of the fence. I went out but did not find any downy little bodies so am assuming the chicks were under cover some place & mama hen was trying to drive Moʻo away. I will have to watch for them tomorrow.  

When I went to prepare Moʻo's food this evening, I found a surprise in the laundry tub in the Cat Genie room. It was ʻAlani! He was sleeping in the laundry tub!

He was annoyed with me.

ʻŌhuna, on the other hand, did not surprise me. The security cameras caught her out in the yard on several occasions & for a relatively long period of time.

Looks like 2 or 3 forays starting at about 2:45 am.

Wandering around while I was at the Night Market.

In an earlier post I noted how Lingopie gives you the English translation along with the Hanzi & Pinyin. I should have provided more information about the scene that I used to illustrate what Lingopie provides. SPOILER ALERT - The guy facing the camera is the owner of the house where this gathering is taking place. He is saying, "You all wore your clothes wrong" because he has noticed that the robes of the others have the right side over the left side. As in Japanese culture, the Chinese wear the robes with the left side over the right side; EXCEPT when you are dressing a deceased person. Yes, all the other people in the room are dead! (FYI Helpful hint so you get it right if you are wearing Chinese or Japanese clothing with this type of set up; if you can stick your right hand inside your robe like Napoleon did, then you have it on correctly. And not like you are dead. You're welcome!)

 

Today's lesson on Duolingo was Hanzi practice. On the surface, this looks easy since you are basically tracing where the strokes go. But the tough part is the stroke order; I have not yet figured out if there is a basic principle on where to start or what order to go in. I should probably spend more time on those 2 on-line sites I found on Hanzi. While doing the tracing, I also repeat the pronunciation of the word as well as try to come up with a mnemonic for linking the pronunciation with the ideograph with the English meaning. I think the only way I have been able to do as well as I have been is that my bio brain is used to rote memorization of traits of plants & animals & linking them with the scientific name, common name, & indigenous name.

Earlier today I posted an update on Hurricane Lowell. Not much has changed since then but here is a graphic I though you might find interesting. This is a color-enhanced image of Lowell; the color gradient shows the amount of moisture in that part of the cloud cover, red being a very high level. You can also see the well-defined eye; the higher the wind speed, the more distinctive the eye becomes. This image also gives a better idea of how large an area a hurricane can affect when it passes through or nearby an area. In this case, it would easily affect the 8 main islands if its path were to turn right today & head northerly.

The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is likely to be between the 7th & the 12th.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Dean, Sandra, & Steve! 

Lowell Now Category 5

Hurricane Lowell wasted no time getting to Category 5! By the 11 am update, Lowell had maximum sustained winds at 160 mph. It is now about 445 miles southerly of Hilo & moving westerly at about 10 mph. Though it is expected that the forward motion will slow down over the next few days, the forecast also says the maximum wind speed will remain quite high. The model at 11 am shows Lowell turning towards the north sooner than the 5 am models predicted.

What Is It Going To Do?

Hurricane Lowell has now become a Category 4 Hurricane on the Safir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale; it is also what is called a major hurricane. Major hurricanes are ones where the maximum sustained wind speed is over 110 mph; at 5 am this morning Lowell was at 155 mph & moving westerly at about 10 mph. It is about 455 miles south-southeasterly of Hilo. What we are watching now is not when Lowell will be passing closest to us, but when will it make that right turn & start heading northerly. The current forecast shows its potential path at about 164W longitude which should keep it far enough away to not cause severe damage to us. But if it should turn northerly earlier, say at the 160W longitude, Niʻihau & Kauaʻi would be in its path. Lowell may become stronger later today & we might have a Category 5 Hurricane. Currently hurricane force winds extend out from the center for about 50 miles, with tropical storm force winds extending about 90 miles.

Hurricane Karina is maintaining its Category 4 status with maximum sustained winds at about 145 mph as it moves west-northwesterly at about 10 mph. It is about 1455 miles easterly of Hilo & about 2 days away from entering the Central Pacific region. While Karina is expected to begin weakening, it will still be a strong hurricane for at least a few more days.

As noted in an earlier post, August is the most active month for hurricanes in the Central Pacific. September is the 3rd most active month with about 20% of hurricanes historically occurring in September. But hurricanes can't read so we will just have to see what happens this month. (FYI July is the 2nd most active month with 25% occurring in July. This year it was fairly quiet.)

Hurricane Lowell

Lowell has indeed become a hurricane overnight. It is now about 575 miles southeast of Hilo. Maximum sustained winds are about 80 mph & Lowell is moving west-northwesterly at about 12 mph. Hurricane force winds extend out from the center about 15 miles with tropical storm force winds extending out about 90 miles. The forecast is for Lowell to increase in strength, becoming a major hurricane sometime tomorrow. 

Hurricane Karina remains a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 140 mph. It is moving westerly at about 12 mph & is expected to enter the Central Pacific region on Friday.  

 

More on Lowell

There are still 3 disturbances that are being watched in regards to how they will affect our weather here. Of these Tropical Storm Lowell is the most closely watched. At 5 am this morning Lowell was about 785 miles southeast of Hilo moving westerly at about 14 mph. Maximum sustained winds were about 65 mph but are expected to increase over the next day or so & Lowell is expected to become a hurricane in the next day & a major hurricane by Wednesday; which is also when it will likely be closest to us.

The disturbance to the southwest has been losing intensity & has now been decreased to a 20% chance of becoming a depression within the next 7 days. It is becoming even less likely to cause us any problems; which is good, then we can focus on Lowell!

Category 4 Hurricane Karina is steadily making its way westerly at about 9 mph. Karina's maximum sustained winds this morning at 5 were 140 mph; they are expected to gradually weaken over the next few days. At its current rate, Karina will enter the Central Pacific region early Friday morning.  

Lowell Now in Central Pacific

Tropical Storm Lowell crossed in to the Central Pacific region very early this morning. The 5 am public advisory & warning cone showed Lowell just coming in to the region; it was about 1070 miles east-southeast of Hilo. At that time, Lowell had maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph & was moving westerly at about 15 mph. Lowell is expected to strengthen over the next couple of days & become a hurricane before it makes its closest approach early Thursday morning. But we just need to wait & see exactly what will happen; more on that later. 

The disturbance to the south-southwest of us is given a 30% chance of developing into a more organized depression over the next 7 days. Since its motion continues westerly it will likely not be a problem for us.

Karina is currently a Category 1 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It is expected to be entering the Central Pacific region on Friday. Currently, Karina has maximum sustained winds of about 80 mph & is moving west-northwesterly at about 9 mph. If Karina's westerly motion speeds up or Lowell's slows down or both, it could impact Lowell's strength. If Karina gets close enough it could take some of the energy from Lowell making it a weaker storm system. We will just have to wait & see.

Badlands Ranch

I have a monthly subscription for a dehydrated beef dog food for Moʻo from Badlands Ranch. I've had it for about 2 years now. I give her about a tablespoon with each meal to add nutrients her dried kibble might be missing. On Sunday I started getting emails saying they were unable to process my credit card; I got 3 emails that day. And another the next day, plus another on Wednesday. I did not contact them as they had asked.

08/23/26 @ 2:15 am. Why are you wanting me to respond when I am asleep?

08/23/26 @ 4:13 am. I am not ignoring you, I am still asleep!

08/23/26 @ 8:12 am. I am now ignoring you.

08/24/26 @ 2:20 am. Asleep, but will ignore you when I wake up.

08/26/26 @ 2:24 am. Still asleep, still going to ignore you when I wake up!

This same thing happened last year at about the same time; I wonder if it has something to do with the expiration month which is July. Last year the customer service rep was great, she checked a bunch of things & everything was correct; I got my order even though I did get more emails saying it was not able to process my card. It happened the next month & the next! I contacted Badlands Ranch each time. Finally the customer service rep said, they were not sure why it kept sending me emails saying something was wrong when nothing was, so just ignore the emails. And then the emails stopped coming; I thought they had fixed the problem. Not. When it started happening this time, I ignored the emails because the card expiration year is 2030 & everything they had in their system was correct; it should be working. I got this email today. (And yes, my dog is spoiled.)

Customer service rep was right; just ignore the other emails!

Neighbor Malia might be having some roof problems from Hurricane Lālā. There were 2 guys up on her roof today. They were there for an hour or so poking around & talking about things. I did not see them do any repairs, they were probably checking to figure out what the problem was & how to fix it. 

 

The Motek Bakery email about tomorrow's breakfast special says its going to be shakshuka! My favorite! There was a very nice photo. 

(Photo by Motek)

I am watching Episode 2 of Yuezhou Unusual News Record on Lingopie. It is an intermediate level video. What I like about Lingopie is that the video has the English subtitles but also has the Hanzi & Pinyin directly above the English. Scroll the cursor over the Hanzi which is then highlighted in orange & the specific English words it translates to pops up along with options to hear it said again (headset), to speak the word yourself (mic), or have a more detailed explanation for the word or phrase (light bulb). If you click on the plus sign (+) the word or phrase is added to your spaced repetition list of words to practice.

When you click on light bulb, box on right appears.

I learned a bunch of new words on Duolingo today. My 1st session was just before I went to sleep, a little after midnight. I learned about using suggestion particles in regards to transportation. My 2nd session was when I woke up around 6 am; the theme seemed to be watching TV! How appropriate!  

Start of 2nd lesson of the day.

FYI I do not eat popcorn when I watch TV.

But sometimes I do eat other snacks.

I serendipitously started watching 2 Korean TV series that turn out to have somewhat parallel but opposite themes. How can they be parallel & opposite at the same time? Well maybe those are not quite the right words to describe them, but I'll let you judge for yourself. SPOILER ALERT - Both involve time slips during an eclipse but in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty a modern Michelin level Korean chef is transported to Joseon era Korea & in My Royal Nemesis a Joseon era royal concubine is transported to modern day Korea. Both women are strong-willed & self-assured in their original lives & bring that with them & initially act that way but soon figure out they need to suppress that in order to navigate & survive their new lives. Both women also interact with the tyrannical male head (of the country in Bon Appétit & of a very large business conglomerate in Royal Nemesis) & assist the male tyrants in retaining their power through the use of their strengths. And obviously there is romance involved in both; which changes the males in to less-than-tyrannical beings. So I think the themes of these series are parallel but opposite. What do you think? (And yes, I am watching them at the same time, alternating episodes between the 2. Another way to exercise my brain.)

Tropical Storm Lowell is expected to enter the Central Pacific region some time late tonight or early tomorrow morning; it is currently about 1210 miles east-southeasterly of Hilo. It is also expected to increase in wind speed & become a hurricane; at 5 pm today it had maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph & is moving west-northwesterly at about 9 mph. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center area is keeping a close watch since it is unknown whether or how Hurricane Karina will affect it.

The window for Episode 55 of the eruption of Kīlauea has not yet been determined. Scientists are collecting more data to provide a more accurate prediction of when the next eruption will occur.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Diana!