Hurricane Lowell is an impressive Category 4 storm on IR this morning, almost a Cat 5:
It has slowed and is seems to be starting the turn to the north. The current forecast takes Lowell to the west of Kauai and Niihau, putting them on the fringes of the storm as it passes by late Monday.
That will still bring winds, storm surge, and rain across the rest of the island chain. It won’t take much of an eastward wobble in the track to bring catastrophic damage to Kauai/Niihau, so please take this situation seriously. Expecting watches to start today …