Hurricane Felicia, once a Category 4 storm, continues to weaken. At 11 a.m.EDT, Felicia was a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100mph. Felicia was centered about 1,280 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii. Thishurricane will have no direct effect on any landmass through this weekend.
However, there will be higher-than-normal surf and rainfall for portions ofHawaii early next week.
The hurricane was fueled by very warm water and very favorable upper-levelwinds through Thursday, reaching major Category 4 storm status. Warm waterallowed for the rapid growth of thunderstorms, which released warm, buoyant airaround the core of the storm. This process has led to more intensethunderstorms, lower pressure within the storm's center, and increasing windsabout the hurricane.
As Felicia continues to move west-northwestward, it will pass over coolerwater through this weekend and, at the same time, lose those favorableupper-level winds. This cooler water will cause a decrease in thunderstormdevelopment, rising pressure within the storm's center, and diminish thewind.
Since Felicia will spend a considerable amount of time over water, the stormwill be dramatically weaker by the time it reaches Hawaii. Felicia should bedowngraded to a tropical storm with winds of 65 mph by Saturday evening, andshould weaken to a depression with winds less than 30 mph prior to reaching theBig Island of Hawaii. Since the intensity of the storm will be significantlyless than its current state, Felicia's main impact on Hawaii will be enhancedshowers and high surf Monday night into Tuesday. Destructive winds will not bean issue.
Forecast by AccuWeather.com Meteorologists Dan Kottlowski and KristinaPydynowski
