Hurricane forecasters say developing storm could threaten Hawaii

Hurricane forecasters are keeping close watch this week on a developing tropical system in the Pacific Ocean, one that has folks in Hawaii paying close attention to the forecast, just one year after a deadly wind-whipped wildfire killed scores on Maui.

"A large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms is associated with two disturbances over the western portion of the East Pacific basin," the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning. "These systems are expected to merge later today or tonight, and gradual development is expected after they merge.

"A tropical depression is likely to form within the next couple of days while the disturbance moves west-northwestward into the Central Pacific basin Wednesday night or early Thursday," the hurricane center said.

Just one year ago, strong winds from distant Hurricane Dora were a factor in fanning catastrophic wildfires on Maui, killing over 100 people.

"In terms of kicking up strong dry winds that can enhance the wildfire risk, a fully developed tropical storm or hurricane passing just to the south of the islands but not bringing rain would be a worst-case scenario," AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said in an online forecast report .

System could near Hawaii by the weekend

The disturbance is forecast to meander slowly northward during the next few days before accelerating into the Central Pacific basin by the latter portion of the week.

"This feature will take a general west-northwest path that will bring it closer and closer to Hawaii into this weekend," DaSilva said.

Long-range weather models are showing a "higher chance for development" southeast of Hawaii this week, Hawaii News Now said.

"There is still a lot of uncertainty to which path it will take. Many models suggest that it will stay to our south, but Hawaii Island will see the most impacts," Hawaii News Now said.

What will the storm's name be?

If a named tropical storm forms, its name would depend on which basin it forms in: According to Hawaii News Now, if it becomes more organized over the Eastern Pacific, it will be given the name “Hector,” If it forms over the Central Pacific, it will be given the Hawaiian name “Hone.”

First Central Pacific storm of the season

This would be the first named storm of the Central Pacific hurricane season.

Overall, the 2024 Central Pacific hurricane season outlook from federal forecasters calls for 1–4 tropical cyclones across the region. A near-normal season has 4 or 5 tropical cyclones, which include tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane forecasters say developing storm could threaten Hawaii