As Tropical Storm Guillermo fizzles out, a new and strengthening storm forms

Tropical storm and flash-flood watches for Maui and Hawaii counties were canceled Wednesday morning as Guillermo continued to weaken and move north of the Hawaiian Islands.

At 800 AM PDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Hilda was located near latitude 12.7 North, longitude 132.3 West. That puts the center of Hilda about 1,630 miles or 2,620 km west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, far from land.

Hilda has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is forecast to strengthen over the next 48 hours to near hurricane strength by Saturday.

Later next week, the system could affect portions of Hawaii, if it continues on the now projected path. The latest five-day track shows Hilda as a tropical storm more than 300 miles west of Hilo on Tuesday. Environmental conditions are conducive for additional development, and a tropical depression is likely to form tonight or Thursday while the low moves westward to west-northwestward at 10 to 15 miles per hour.

Forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center were uncertain earlier this week about how close Guillermo would approach the islands or what kind of impacts the state could see.

Meanwhile, surf generated by Guillermo prompted a high surf warning for east shores of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai with waves of 10 to 15 feet expected through 6 p.m. Thursday. “Wind gusts will usually be on the order of 25 to 35 miles per hour”.

Friday will bring partly cloudy skies and more scattered showers.