Hurricane Olivia weakens as it tracks toward Hawaii

Hurricane Olivia was expected to weaken to a tropical storm before making landfall on Hawaii. Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

By Danielle Haynes, UPI

Hurricane Olivia weakened Friday as it moved west toward Hawaii, the National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of the Category 2 storm was located about 1,375 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii, and 1,550 miles east of Honolulu, the NHC said in its 2 p.m. PDT update. The hurricane was traveling west-northwest at 16 mph with 110 mph maximum sustained winds.

The NHC said Olivia will weaken further over the weekend, and possibly downgrade to a tropical storm by Tuesday. The forecast track shows the storm continuing in a northwest trajectory before turning southwest and making landfall in the Hawaiian Islands sometime Wednesday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the eye and tropical storm-force winds extend up to 115 miles.

Hurricane Norman passed by the islands to the northeast but avoided a direct hit.

Eye spy Hurricane #Olivia's well-defined eye! Well, technically, #NOAA20 did all the hard work. This Cat. 3 storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 115 mph out in the eastern Pacific. More imagery: https://t.co/P1F11zXUHI pic.twitter.com/p1DRBJqSga

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) September 7, 2018