Hurricane Watch has been issued for Hawaii county and Maui County including the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe and Hawaii County
A Hurricane Watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous.
At 500 AM HST (1500 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Lane was located by satellite near latitude 14.1 North, longitude 152.3 West. Lane is moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue through tonight, with a slight decrease in forward speed. A turn toward the northwest is expected Wednesday into Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Lane will pass close to Hawaii and Maui counties on Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h) with higher gusts. Lane is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Slight weakening is expected the next couple of days, but Lane is forecast to remain a dangerous hurricane as it draws closer to the Hawaiian Islands.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km).
