Hawaii is staring down yet another Pacific hurricane — and this one has officials using some of their strongest language yet.
Satellite imagery shows Hurricane Nolo spinning just south of the Hawaiian Islands, its circulation curling ominously toward the Big Island. In the latest overnight advisory, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center placed Nolo roughly 150 miles south-southeast of South Point, with sustained winds of 105 mph. The storm had nearly stalled, but forecasters expect it to make a sharp westward turn Saturday while potentially strengthening into a major hurricane.
Check out the satellite imagery of the storm below.
The current forecast keeps Nolo’s center south of the main islands. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean Hawaii escapes.
The National Weather Service warns that “catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding” is possible on the Big Island, where eastern and southern areas could receive 10 to 15 inches of rain, with isolated totals up to 25 inches. A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch remain in effect for Hawaii County, while Maui County has been under a tropical storm watch.
Surf is another concern. East and southeast-facing shores of the Big Island, Maui and Molokai could see 10-to-14-foot breaking waves Saturday, accompanied by dangerous currents.
Related: Hurricane Polo’s ‘Death Band’ Unleashes Historic Category 5 Explosion
Hawaii knows what these systems can do. Hurricane Iniki devastated Kauai in 1992, damaging or destroying more than 14,000 homes. Hurricane Lane never made landfall in 2018, yet dumped a record 58 inches of rain on the Big Island and triggered widespread flooding.
And Nolo isn’t occurring in isolation.
The Central Pacific has already recorded six named storms, five hurricanes and two major hurricanes this season, with accumulated cyclone energy running roughly 300 percent above normal.
“The ocean heat content across the central and eastern Pacific is remarkably elevated right now,” noted atmospheric scientists analyzing the basin’s extraordinary storm frequency. “El Niño has essentially opened the floodgates for rapid cyclone development across ocean regions that typically remain quiet.”
El Niño provides part of the explanation. NOAA says moderate-to-strong El Niño years correlate with increased Central Pacific tropical cyclone activity because reduced wind shear creates a more favorable environment for storms. The agency currently says El Niño is strengthening, with more than a 90-percent chance it becomes very strong this fall and winter.
The Pacific, in other words, remains wide awake.
Related: Watch: Hurricane Polo Sends Gigantic Waves to Cabo San Lucas Arch
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