Storm Lala strengthens to hurricane while closing in on Hawaii

Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Aug 15, 2026

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Pacific storm Lala strengthened into a hurricane as it edged closer to Hawaii’s Big Island, where it will make possible landfall on Saturday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Lala’s top winds reached 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour, up from 75 mph earlier, as it closed to within 30 miles of South Point, Hawaii, the center said in an advisory. The Category 1 hurricane was already raking the island chain with stiff winds and rain since Saturday morning.

“Damaging winds and heavy rain will persist across the Big Island through tonight and spread westward across the smaller Islands on Sunday,” the center said. “Rainfall will produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.”

If Lala maintains its strength and strikes as a hurricane, it will be the first storm to hit the islands with that power since 1992.

Yet the recent past shows even close calls can bring devastating floods — and worse — to the 50th U.S. state. In 2023, Hurricane Dora passed far to the south, but helped set up wind patterns that fanned flames across Maui, where fires raged out of control and killed more than 100 people.

As much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain may fall across the Big Island, with isolated spots getting 25 inches, according to the center Elsewhere, as much as 1 foot may fall on eastern Maui and between 4 and 6 inches across the rest of the chain.

There were 130 flights into and out of Honolulu and Hilo canceled on Saturday, and another 12 as of early Sunday New York time, according to FlightAware.