High surf warning for east-facing Hawaii shores

Oahu and Maui County remained under a hurricane watch Friday afternoon.

Visitors look at the Kilauea volcano summit crater at Hawaii National Park, Hawaii on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016. Forecasters say Lester is moving west-northwest, but its impacts will still be felt.

(NOAA/Weather Underground via AP).

Lester might also produce localized showers in windward areas Friday and Saturday, he said. A band of showers has moved inland through.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, the storm continued moving away from the islands, moving west at 13 miles per hour.

HONOLULU (AP) – Lester has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it churns away from Hawaii.

Hurricane Lester is churning toward the state as a Category 2 storm, and could bring damaging surf and heavy rains to parts of the islands starting late Friday.

Surf could rise between 15 and 25 feet Saturday according to the National Weather Service. “It’s lovely, actually”, Smoke said, sipping coffee.

“It has passed south of our island”, Aton said.

Around Hawaii, tourists who had been planning an escape to a sunny island paradise were making the most of their vacations. “It’s a matter of time and odds”.

The latest forecast anticipates that Kauai County could feel effects of the storm – such as rain, high surf, and strong winds – as early as Saturday evening into Sunday morning, but forecast uncertainty remains high for Kauai at this time.

Hurricane Lester is now less than 305 miles east of Hilo, moving west northwest at 15 mph.

Officials said they hadn’t heard of mass trip cancellations or other major effects to the tourism industry.

Surfer Martial Crum cautioned visitors to watch the waves from a safe distance as he and surfer Kahai Fukumitsu monitored conditions at an east Oahu surf spot they called the “best-kept secret”. “It’s a swell. It’s enough to get our attention, so we drove out here”. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said the most significant impact of Lester is expected to be very large and damaging surf along east-facing shores.

Hopena Pokipala carries a surfboard while discussing wave conditions with Kaipo Guerreo at Makapuu Beach in Waimanalo, Hawaii on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. He says the waves are “chaotic”, which required a lot of paddling.

After breakfast, Bert and Tia Hartsock took their 1-year-old daughter, Maya, to watch the waves at Makapuu.

A hurricane watch is being expanded in Hawaii as a powerful storm churns across the Pacific Ocean. But if the storm veers to the south it could have a much greater impact, said Ian Morrison, meteorologist from the National Weather Service.