Hurricane Nolo deluge begins in Hawaii as emergency declarations stack up
Heavy rain from Hurricane Nolo is ramping up across southern Hawaii as the storm nears the Big Island, with Gov. Josh Green declaring a state of emergency and President Trump approving a pre-landfall federal declaration.
Heavy rain from Hurricane Nolo is ramping up across southern Hawaii as the storm makes its closest approach to the Big Island, the state’s third dangerous brush with a hurricane in six weeks.
Nolo rapidly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane on Friday and sat about 145 miles south of the Big Island, inching north. The National Hurricane Center expects it to strengthen further into a major hurricane on Saturday, with maximum sustained winds of 105mph recorded on Friday.
Extreme rainfall is the gravest threat: the NHC forecasts 10 to 15 inches of rain for eastern and southern parts of the Big Island through Sunday, with up to 25 inches possible in the steepest terrain — down from an earlier forecast of 35 inches. NHC director Michael Brennan urged Big Island residents to “shelter in place … certainly by later today, tonight, well into Saturday”, warning of dangerous flooding and downed trees and power lines.
Governor Josh Green has declared a state of emergency — his third storm-related declaration this month — and said President Donald Trump approved a pre-landfall Presidential Emergency Declaration. About 400 National Guard troops are positioned statewide, 121 of them on the Big Island, and county shelters are open.
Nolo follows Hurricane Lala, which brought catastrophic flooding to the Big Island in mid-August as a Category 1, and Hurricane Lowell, which struck Kauai and Niihau as a Category 2 in early September — all in a Pacific season supercharged by this year’s super El Niño.
Sources
- CNN, “Deluge begins in Hawaii as Hurricane Nolo continues to strengthen”, 25 Sep 2026: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/25/weather/hurricane-nolo-hawaii-el-nino-impacts-climate?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_meta
- Associated Press (via WDRB Wave), “Hurricane Nolo threatening Hawaii with heavy rain as Polo churns near Mexico”, 25 Sep 2026: https://www.wdrbwave.com/2026/09/25/hurricane-nolo-threatens-hawaii-with-catastrophic-flooding-polo-churns-near-mexico/
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