Hurricane Oho continued its northeastward movement away from Hawaii on Wednesday.
Hurricane Oho continued its northeastward movement away from Hawaii on Wednesday.
The seventh tropical cyclone to develop in the central Pacific this season, Oho was 815 miles northeast of Hilo by 11 a.m. and moving away rapidly.
The storm displayed maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and was moving to the north-northeast at 38 mph. As it did so, a high-surf advisory was canceled for the Big Island about 10 a.m., while a small-craft advisory remained in effect. That advisory also was canceled later Wednesday afternoon.
Satellite imagery over Oho no longer showed an eye in the storm, according to a National Weather Service notice posted at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
“It appears that strong vertical wind shear … and lower sea surface temperatures … are finally taking their toll on Oho,” the release read.
Sea surface temperatures in the storm’s path were just less than 78 degrees, and vertical wind shear was measured at almost 53 mph from the south-southwest.
“Model guidance shows gradual weakening over the next 36 hours as Oho starts to become extratropical,” the weather service stated. “There has been little change in the track forecast through 36 hours. Oho is expected to continue racing toward the north-northeast.”
East Hawaii residents can expect scattered showers, mostly in the afternoons, according to National Weather Service forecaster Pete Donaldson.
“Some places on the east side could see fairly heavy rain. … It’ll be a little bit wetter. We’ll have typical trade-wind weather the next few days,” he said.
Earlier this week, the instability in the atmosphere because of the storm brought heavier showers, he added, but now there are expected to be “more stable conditions,” he said.
Swells generated by Oho combined with other swells earlier this week to generate heavy surf on Hawaii Island, compared with the rest of the state.
“We did have some other swells coming in besides the surf from Oho,” Donaldson said. “In October, we almost always, at this time of year, have other swells coming in. It was bigger on the east side. The surf Oho generated a few days ago, that’s moving out of the picture, but that wasn’t the only swell coming in here.”
Breezy northerly winds were expected to transition today to more easterly trade-wind patterns, running through the weekend.
“As this pattern settles in, we can expect showers to affect primarily the windward and mountain areas, especially nights and mornings. The leeward Big Island will see afternoon clouds and upslope showers with clearing overnight,” reads a weather service forecast released at 10:08 a.m. Wednesday.
“Hurricane Oho is rapidly exiting the area to the northeast of Hawaii and high pressure is nosing in from the northwest. With the islands caught between these two features, breezy north winds will continue (Wednesday) and (Wednesday night). As Oho accelerates toward the Pacific northwest the pressure gradient over the state will relax with a surface ridge forming north of the islands. The ridge will bring easterly trade winds (today) and maintain them through the weekend.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.