Hawaii

Tropical Storm Hone threatens Hawaii with fire and floods | CNN

Published

1 year ago

August 23, 2024

Tropical Storm Hone threatens Hawaii with fire and floods | CNN

CNN
—

The Atlantic hurricane season might be quiet for now, but the same can’t be said in the Pacific, where Tropical Storm Hone is threatening to deliver a weekend blow to Hawaii.

A tropical storm watch has been raised for Hawaii’s Big Island with the storm on track to pass close to the state this weekend. It will deliver heavy rain, strong winds, dangerous seas and fire concerns to a tinder-dry state still recovering from one of the most devastating fires in US history.

Tropical activity has been abundant in the Pacific Ocean this year, but none of the seven East Pacific named storms have come close to Hawaii. Hone, the first storm to form in the Central Pacific since 2019, will break that mold.

The storm is forecast to pass about 150 miles south of the Big Island late Saturday into Sunday morning.

Rain and wind will persist for much of the weekend after Hone’s outer rainbands begin to impact the Big Island in the earliest hours of Saturday morning.

Widespread rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are possible on the east and southeast facing slopes of the Big Island, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Maui could see around 6 inches and Oahu could pick up 2 to 4 inches of rain into early next week, especially on the eastern sides of the island. Heavy rain could cause flash flooding and area waterways to swell.

In addition to potentially flooding rainfall, Hone will also deliver gusty winds this weekend, especially over the Big Island.

“Winds are expected to be strongest where they blow downslope from higher terrain, over headlands and through passes,” the CPHC warned Friday.

The storm’s strongest winds will likely last from late Saturday through Sunday as it makes its closest pass south of the Big Island. Tropical storm-force wind gusts – up to 73 mph – are possible.

Breezy conditions will pick up late Friday night and early Saturday over the island chain ahead of Hone’s worst conditions. This will raise fire danger over parts of the state where winds get stronger without rain to accompany them.

“Drier air and windy conditions ahead of Hone could elevate fire weather concerns across leeward areas statewide (Saturday),” the National Weather Service in Honolulu cautioned Friday.

Leeward areas generally include the western and southern coasts of each island in Hawaii’s chain.

The increased fire danger is particularly concerning given drought conditions in the state are worse this year than they were at the time of last year’s devastating wildfires. Wildfires in Maui last August left more than 100 people dead and caused $6 billion in damage.

Given Hone’s rain, fire weather conditions don’t appear to be as severe as those during last year’s fires, but if dry fuels like grasses and trees catch fire, they‘ll quickly go up in flames. Strong winds could fan those flames and rapidly spread fire to nearby locations.

Around the time of last year’s fires, about 15% of the state was experiencing at least moderate drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. As of August 20, moderate drought or worse conditions covered 73% of Hawaii.

Hone will strengthen late Sunday into Monday and could become a hurricane briefly. At this point, the system will likely be centered 300 to 400 miles southwest of Hawaii’s islands.

After Hone moves away early next week, it may not be the only system Hawaii contends with over the next couple of weeks.

Gilma, which was a Category 3 hurricane as of Friday morning as it roared over the open Pacific, will track west over the weekend and through much of next week. The system will weaken as it approaches Hawaii, but whatever remains of it could take a swipe at the state late next week.

Interests in and around Hawaii may need to continue to monitor for tropical trouble even into early September.

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Hawaii

Deadly crash shuts down H-1 eastbound in Aiea

Published

9 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Deadly crash shuts down H-1 eastbound in Aiea

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Emergency responders are at the scene of a deadly crash on the H-1 Freeway.

The crash occurred at around 1:40 p.m. in the left eastbound lanes just before the Kaamilo Street overpass.

Emergency Medical Services said a 27-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 3-year-old boy was among four people hospitalized in serious condition. Two women, ages 23 and 55, and a 28-year-old man, were also listed in serious condition.

Two men, ages 27 and 29, were hospitalized in stable condition.

Oahu #hitraffic 1/27/26 2:18PM: H-1 Eastbound is being diverted to the Waimalu off-ramp (Exit 10) due to earlier MVC. Please proceed with caution, use alternate routes if possible. Please be aware of first responders on the roadway.
— Hawaii DOT (@DOTHawaii) January 28, 2026

At 2:18 p.m., the Hawaii Department of Transportation reported that eastbound traffic was being diverted to the Waimalu offramp.

Drivers were urged to exercise caution in light of first responders on the roadway.

Check our traffic flow map for the latest conditions.

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Hawaii

Shark attacks in Hawaii spike in October, and scientists think they know why

Published

21 hours ago

January 27, 2026

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Shark attacks in Hawaii spike in October, and scientists think they know why

“Sharktober” — the spike in shark bite incidents off the west coast of North America during the fall — is real, and it seems to happen in Hawaii when tiger sharks give birth in the waters surrounding the islands, new research suggests.

Carl Meyer, a marine biologist at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, analyzed 30 years’ worth of Hawaii shark bite data, from1995 to 2024, and found that tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) accounted for 47% of the 165 unprovoked bites recorded in the area during that period. Of the others, 33% were by unidentified species and 16% were attributed to requiem sharks (Carcharhinus spp.)

Crucially, tiger sharks accounted for at least 63% of the recorded bites during that month. What’s more, 28% of the October bites involved unidentified species, some of which may have also been tiger sharks, Meyer wrote in the study, which was published Jan. 6 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.”The October spike appears to be driven by tiger shark biology rather than changes in human ocean use,” Meyer told Live Science via email.

Tiger sharks typically reach 10 to 14 feet (3 to 4.3 meters) long and weigh more than 850 pounds (385 kilograms). They are named for the dark vertical stripes that younger ones have, and they are found throughout the world in temperate and tropical waters, especially around central Pacific islands.

Tiger shark numbers are highest in the waters off Hawaii during October according to ecotourism operators. This month is also when large, mature females move from islands in the northwest Pacific to areas close to the shores around the main Hawaiian Islands to give birth. The increased presence of large sharks is one crucial factor that could lead to more bites, Meyer said.

“The most plausible explanation is seasonal reproduction: a partial migration of large adult female tiger sharks associated with pupping season appears to increase their presence in nearshore waters used by humans,” Meyer said.

The other key factor is that giving birth is draining. Tiger sharks are ovoviviparous, which means their eggs hatch inside the mother’s body, and the embryos receive additional nutrition beyond what was in the egg’s yolk sac.The sharks also give birth to an average of about 30 pups after 15 to 16 months of gestation.

This means females, while pregnant and after they have given birth, are likely to need to actively forage to recover energy reserves, Meyer said. Other ecological factors may also contribute to the spike in bites, though, he added, such as seasonal increases in the availability of preferred prey, such as large reef fish. Attacks won’t be down to the mothers protecting their young, though — once born, tiger shark pups are independent and often stay in shallow areas to avoid being eaten by bigger sharks, including their mother.

A female tiger shark swims in open water. Researchers linked tiger sharks giving birth to a spike in bites in October. (Image credit: Cory Fults)

The available information suggests an increase in unprovoked shark bites around Hawaii, said Daryl McPhee, an environmental scientist at Bond University in Queensland, Australia, who studies shark attacks but wasn’t involved in this study.

“Any seasonal behavioural change that can increase the potential overlap between large species of sharks such as tiger sharks, has the potential to increase the risk of a bite occurring,” he told Live Science via email, adding that regardless of the circumstances, the risk of a bite remains low.

Meyer also noted the overall risk of shark bites is extremely low. “The key implication is awareness, not alarm,” Meyer said. “Extra caution is advised during this month, particularly for high-risk, solo activities such as surfing or swimming in coastal areas.”

Although the October peak revealed in the study is specific to Hawaii and tiger sharks, there may be similar patterns elsewhere in the world, Meyer said. “When large coastal sharks show strong seasonal shifts in habitat use, bite risk can also become seasonal. Other regions and species may experience similar patterns, but the timing and drivers will vary depending on local ecology.”

Globally, three large coastal shark species account for most recorded unprovoked bites. These are great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), tiger sharks and bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), a type of requiem shark.

Bull sharks are thought to be behind a recent spate of bites near Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, with four events within 48 hours, and this period does roughly align with their southern hemisphere summer breeding period.

“Bull sharks along parts of the Australian east coast are more seasonally abundant nearshore and in rivers and estuaries during their reproductive period in the austral summer,” McPhee said.

However, other factors may have been more influential to the recent bites in Australia, including a combination of increased summer water use by people, environmental conditions such as storm runoff and reduced water clarity.

“There was a set of environmental conditions that concentrated bull sharks towards the mouth of Sydney Harbour and adjacent beaches,” McPhee said. “There was heavy rain in the catchment that would have flushed prey out and it made the water murky. Thus, prime conditions for bull sharks to feed in.”

Despite substantial variation in the number of bites across time and in different places, there is a general long-term trend of increasing shark bites, particularly on surfers, McPhee added. In New South Wales there were four recorded bites between 1980 and 1999, while 63 bites were recorded between 2000 and 2019.

Globally the picture is similar, according to data from the Florida Museum. In the 1970s, there were a total of 157 attacks, but that hit 500 in the 1990s and totalled 803 between 2010 and 2019.

Shark quiz

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Hawaii

Puna man charged in attempted distribution of 10 pounds of meth | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Published

1 day ago

January 26, 2026

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Puna man charged in attempted distribution of 10 pounds of meth | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

COURTESY HAWAII POLICE

Jas Dewitt McQuade Cox

A 32-year-old Puna man has been arrested and charged following the delivery of a parcel, which Hawaii island authorities said originally contained over 10 pounds of a crystal-like substance that tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.

Big Island police vice officers arrested Jas Dewitt McQuade Cox at a Hawaiian Paradise Park residence on Tuesday evening, according to Hawaii County Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen.

Police said officers later obtained subsequent search warrants and recovered, a black Radical Arms model RF-15 multi-caliber rifle with a black cylindrical silencer and two magazines, a black-and-silver 9mm semiautomatic, an unserialized pistol (ghost gun), 9mm and .308 caliber ammunition, a glass smoking pipe and two zip packets and contents that tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine, plus an operable digital scale.

Cox is charged with two counts each of attempted first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, two counts of prohibited ownership or possession of a firearm, possession of a ghost gun and silencer, and two counts of prohibited possession of ammunition.

The most serious offense, attempted first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, is a Class A felony offense that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Cox made his initial appearance in Hilo District Court on Friday. His request for a bail reduction was denied, and his bail was maintained at $360,000. He was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. Cox remained in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.