Posted on: Saturday, August 21, 2004

Hurricane may pass south of Big Island

Advertiser Staff

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center last night was tracking Tropical Storm Estelle, which was expected to become a hurricane and pass about 150 miles south of the Big Island by late Tuesday.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Estelle was about 1,100 miles east-southeast of Hilo and moving west at 12 mph. Winds were at 63 mph, but were expected to soon exceed the 74 mph needed to qualify as a hurricane.

The storm system was projected to peak with 86 mph winds late today, then drop to 75 mph — barely a hurricane — by the time it reaches the Hawaiian Islands on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters described Estelle as a compact cyclone with a well-organized central core, and

predicted it would intensify last night and today. However, it was approaching an area of slightly cooler ocean surface water and was expected to gradually weaken over a 72-hour period beginning late today.

For updates on Estelle, visit the Central Pacific Hurricane Center site online at www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/.

Farther to the west, a typhoon warning was posted for Guam and portions of the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands as Typhoon Chaba continued to plow through the western Pacific.

The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and gusts to 100 mph, was 460 miles east of the Marianas' capital, Saipan, and 535 miles east of Guam, moving to the west at 12 mph, forecasters said.

Guam is about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawai'i.