weather

Karl Kim, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa professor of urban planning, heads the UH Pacific Urban Resilience Lab. He spoke to HPR's Catherine Cruz how past threats inform the future of natural disaster planning.

Forecasters say Hurricane Kiko has weakened into a tropical storm but still could create life-threatening surf and rip currents in Hawaiʻi. The storm is forecast to pass to the north of the Hawaiian Islands on Tuesday and Wednesday as it continues to weaken.

Two tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific Ocean have gained strength. The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Lorena is expected to become a hurricane off Mexico's western coast. Meanwhile, Hurricane Kiko has intensified with winds above 100 mph as it travels west over open waters. Kiko is a Category 2 hurricane, but no watches or warnings are associated with it, and there are no hazards affecting land.

Hurricane Henriette was a Category 1 storm on Monday and was well away from Hawaiʻi. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and was about 525 miles northwest of Honolulu.

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Gil has become a hurricane in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported Friday that the storm was about 1,080 miles west-southwest of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

Emergency managers directed Oʻahu residents in "red zones" to head inland on Tuesday as the state faced a tsunami. But Oʻahu's evacuation maps also show yellow "Extreme Tsunami" zones. Did people in those areas need to evacuate as well?

A red flag warning has been extended for the leeward portions of all Hawaiian Islands and the interior sections of the Big Island until at least 6 p.m. Saturday.

Oprah Winfrey's representative and the president of Haleakalā Ranch confirmed that a private road on Maui is owned by the ranch and not Winfrey. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake off a Russian peninsula prompted evacuation orders in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere on Tuesday.

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Gil is strengthening in the eastern Pacific Ocean but isn’t expected to threaten land. The Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm is forecast to remain over open water and become a hurricane on Friday.

The Conversation had a chance to speak with Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday morning to get the latest on the damage assessments across the state after Hawaiʻi's brush with tsunami activity.