Updated on October 21, 2015, 11:20 AM (IST): Olaf, to remain a major hurricane
Powerful hurricane Olaf is located just over a 1000 kms southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. On Monday Olaf intensified into a major hurricane (category 4) and as of now it remains a powerful category 4 hurricane.
Olaf is gradually moving in a west-northwest direction and will eventually curve in a northerly direction with time. The hurricane will not have any impact over Hawaii, barring rough sea conditions during the second half of this week.
Updated on October 20, 2015, 08:20 AM (IST): Olaf, now a major hurricane
As expected, hurricane Olaf has strengthened into a major hurricane. Olaf is currently a category 4 hurricane packed with maximum sustained winds of around 200 kmph. As of now, Olaf is located around 2150 kms east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. The expected path will be in a northerly direction. Olaf is far away from any landmass.
Updated on October 19, 2015, 08:20 AM (IST): Olaf upgraded to a hurricane
On Sunday morning tropical storm Olaf strengthened into a hurricane. It was the 15th tropical storm to be named this season and the 11th hurricane of the eastern Pacific. Hurricane Olaf has strengthened further and as on Sunday afternoon it was a category 2 hurricane.
Olaf is expected to strengthen further through this week due to warm waters in its path. As of now no warnings are in place anywhere. Hurricane Olaf is moving at a speed of around 15 kmph in a westerly direction, and is about 2775 km west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California.
Further north of Hawaii in the central Pacific, another low pressure system is present and will move from west to east and will take hurricane Olaf away from Hawaii. There might be a change of path to a northerly direction before the hurricane reaches central Pacific. This northward track will happen during the start of this week and will weaken the hurricane as it moves over cooler waters to the north.
This year maximum number of storms (13 storms) have been reported. The previous record of 11 storms was set in the years 1992 and 1994. This number includes the storms that have either formed in the central pacific or tracked westwards from eastern Pacific. Central Pacific is not an active region for storms with only four to five storms developing on an average annually, as compared to the eastern Pacific where around 15 storms (named and unnamed) develop in a year.