Strengthening Tropical Storm Erick forecast to approach Hawaii by week's end
Tropical Storm Erick is gaining strength in the eastern Pacific Ocean and is forecast to approach Hawaii by the weekend, forecasters announced Monday.
The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center said Erick should reach hurricane strength later Monday.
The center said Erick could grow into a major hurricane Tuesday but should begin losing strength Wednesday and gradually weaken back into a tropical storm before nearing Hawaii.
"Even if the center of the storm passes south of the state some impacts from the storm may extend well north of the low center," the National Weather Service in Honolulu said.
"For now, we are forecasting an increase to moisture levels, clouds and showers; starting over the Big Island by late Thursday and spreading westward to the smaller islands into the weekend," the weather service said.
As of 5 p.m. ET Monday, Erick was located about 1,205 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. It had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and was moving west-northwest at 16 mph.
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its winds reach 74 mph.
Erick would become the third hurricane of the 2019 East Pacific hurricane season, following Alvin and Barbara, AccuWeather said.
Another system, Tropical Storm Flossie, was also spinning in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It was centered about 830 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula and was moving west at 18 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, though it too was projected to grow into a hurricane on Tuesday or Tuesday night.
Flossie could take a similar or perhaps even more northerly track than Erick, AccuWeather said. This could put Hawaii in the forecast path of Flossie by early next week.
Closer to the U.S. mainland, forecasters were watching a system in the Caribbean Sea that has a 10% chance of becoming a tropical depression or storm within the next five days.
This system is expected to move west-northwestward across the Caribbean and the Greater Antilles during the next few days, bringing locally heavy rainfall and possibly some flooding across portions of these islands, the hurricane center said.
On Puerto Rico, the rain would be welcome as it could help alleviate drought conditions there.
By week's end, the system should be near Florida or the Bahamas.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tropical Storm Erick could graze Hawaii by week's end
