Tropical Storm Kiko appears as though it will remain a tropical storm throughout the weekend, according to forecasters from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the center of Kiko was about 1,680 miles east-southeast of Hilo. The storm packed maximum sustained winds of 50 mph with higher gusts, moving northwesterly at about 6 mph. Forecasters expect the storm to follow the same general path through today.
A slow motion between west-northwest and west-southwest expected to occur over the weekend.
Kiko, still in the Eastern Pacific, has fluctuated between tropical storm and hurricane status the past several days. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the storm’s center.
Little change in strength is forecast during the next five days as Kiko continues its crawl toward the Central Pacific.
Two other named storms in the Eastern Pacific, tropical storms Mario and Lorena, are still either on or off the western coast of Mexico and don’t appear to pose a threat to the islands.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.