Hurricane Lane grows to category 5 as it heads toward Hawaii

(FILES) This NOAA image obtained shows Hurricane Lane on August 21, 2018, at 11:30GMT.
Part of the Hawaiian islands were put under a hurricane watch August 21, 2018 as major Lane advanced toward the US archipelago in the central Pacific. Lane, a Category Four storm, was expected to make a turn toward Hawaii later in the week, forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said.The storm was packing winds of 150mph (240kph) per hour and was 620 miles (990 kms) southeast of Honolulu at 1500 GMT, the center said.
/ AFP PHOTO 

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Hurricane Lane has grown to a category 5 storm as it approaches Hawaii with potential for torrential rain, flash flooding and landslides, forecasters said.

As per the latest models, the center of Lane will move very close to or over the main Hawaiian Islands from Thursday through Saturday, the National Weather Service’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu said.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 160 miles (260 kilometers) per hour.

Starting Wednesday night it was forecast to dump 10 to 15 inches of rain, with isolated amounts greater than 20 inches over the Hawaiian Islands, the center said.

This is expected to trigger flash flooding and landslides, the NWS said.

© Agence France-Presse