Blog Article
Hurricane Lala Nears Hawaii as Ohio Valley Faces Flood Risk
Hurricane Lala closes in on Hawaii Island tonight, echoing 1992's Iniki, while a Moderate flash flood risk grips the Ohio Valley ahead of a big NFL preseason weekend.
The Last Hurricane To Hit Hawaii Became A Movie Star. This One's Making History Too.
Y'all, there's a headline going around today that made me laugh and then made me pull up the history books: "The Last Hurricane to Hit Hawaii Became a Movie Star." That's Iniki. 1992. Category 4. It rolled through Kauai while Steven Spielberg's crew was filming Jurassic Park, and instead of scrapping the shoot, they used the storm. The hurricane footage in that movie? Real. That's Iniki on 35mm.
Why's that story trending again tonight? Because Hawaii's dealing with another one right now, and it's close.
Lala Is Knocking On The Big Island's Door
Hurricane Lala is a Category 1 storm, sustained winds around 75 mph, sitting about 65 miles southeast of South Point as of this evening. It's slowed down and turned northwest, which in plain English means it's spending more time close to Hawaii Island instead of scooting on by. NHC's latest track has the closest approach happening tonight, somewhere around 20 kilometers off the south side of the island.
A few things worth knowing:
- This is nowhere near an Iniki-level storm. Iniki was a Cat 4. Lala's a Cat 1. Big difference in what falls out of the sky and what gets picked up by the wind.
- That said, a Cat 1 making a close pass is still a real hurricane. Winds are increasing on the Big Island through the evening, and NWS Honolulu has hurricane conditions expected within hours for the western and southern parts of the island.
- Post-Tropical Cyclone Hernan, the storm's old traveling companion out in the East Pacific, has weakened to a remnant low and isn't a direct threat, though its moisture could still brush Maui late in the week.
So no, Lala isn't going to end up in anybody's blockbuster. But if you've got family in Kona or on the south side of the island, tonight's the night you check in on them.
Meanwhile, A Full Slate Of Football Under Watch
Back on the mainland, today is a preseason football Saturday, and there's a lot of it outdoors. Browns at Bears in Chicago. Eagles at Ravens in Baltimore tonight. Add in the Chicago Air and Water Show drawing crowds along the lakefront, and you've got a lot of people looking up at the sky for reasons that have nothing to do with hurricanes.
The good news: nobody in Chicago or Baltimore is dealing with anything severe today. SPC has that corridor under a Marginal risk, which is about as low-key as the severe weather categories get. The bigger story sits one state over.
The Real Story Is The Ohio Valley, And It's Not New
WPC has a Moderate risk of excessive rainfall over the Ohio Valley today, and that risk holds into Sunday as it slides toward West Virginia. If that sounds familiar, it's because this region has been living under water most of this month. Central Indiana saw 13.7 inches of rain near Muncie on August 12. Eastern Kentucky had a Flash Flood Emergency in Knott County just two days ago. The ground out there is done absorbing anything.
That matters for next weekend too. The Bears play in Cincinnati on August 22, and the Bills and Browns square off in Cleveland the same day. Both of those cities sit right in or near this soaked corridor. Nothing's locked in for game day yet, but if you're making plans up there, keep an eye on the forecast discussion, not just the five-day icon.
- Day 1 (through Sunday morning): Moderate risk, centered on the Ohio Valley
- Day 2 (Sunday into Monday): Moderate risk shifts into West Virginia and the central Appalachians
- Day 3 (Monday into Tuesday): Risk drops to Marginal as the system pushes east
SPC's Day 2 outlook also keeps a Slight risk of severe storms running from the Ohio Valley through Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday, with damaging wind gusts and a couple of brief tornadoes possible. Nothing on the scale of what Charlottesville and Prince George County, Virginia, saw Thursday night with those Tornado Warnings and downed trees, but the same general setup is still in play.
The Takeaway
Hawaii's watching a hurricane make its closest pass tonight, one that'll get compared to Iniki in every headline for the next two days even though it's a fraction of the storm. The mainland's watching something quieter but just as real: ground so saturated in the Ohio Valley that even a Moderate rainfall risk carries teeth. Different oceans, different storms, same lesson. Check the local forecast before you check the box score.