Hawaii faces new tropical storm, one week after Hurricane Lala

Forecasters announced Thursday that the Hawaiian islands are under threat from another tropical weather system that could hit the Big Island just days after destructive flooding from Hurricane Lala. There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect for the islands on Thursday afternoon, though the storm was expected to pass near or south of the Big Island this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical Depression Two-C had been moving over the central Pacific and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Moke, officials said. It is expected to produce rainfall totals of up to 15 inches across the Big Island, with up to 5 inches across the other islands. The rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, with dangerous swells and surf conditions, officials warned. The tropical cyclone is expected to be in an environment that could help it strengthen into a high-end tropical storm or a Category 1 hurricane, forecasters said.

Local officials warned that their weather models didn’t quite grasp the potential for a Tropical Storm Moke yet, but characterized the model’s early simulations as quite aggressive. Later model runs showed less storm impacts on the islands, but officials still warned everyone to stay prepared, especially since the islands’ grounds were already heavily saturated from Lala’s rainfall. Regardless of whether or not the storm strengthened to hurricane-level or made landfall, heavy rain, flooding, and high winds and surf remained a risk, officials concluded.

Though Lala never made official landfall, the storm brought winds over 80 mph and several feet of rain and flooding, according to the local outlet Honolulu Civil Beat. The storm left hundreds of thousands without power across several of the islands, swept away and damaged more than 100 homes, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, the Beat reported.