Tropical Storm Lowell Holds Steady on Westward Track, Could Become Hurricane by Monday
If you have a sailing in the Eastern Pacific, note that Lowell was about 1,150 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii as of the August 29 advisory, moving west at 10 mph, with possible strengthening to a hurricane by Monday. No coastal watches or warnings are in effect. Check the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's advisories going forward, since NHC has handed off tracking for this system.
What jumps out here is the handoff itself: this is the last NHC public advisory on Lowell, with the Central Pacific Hurricane Center taking over as of 5:00 AM HST. That's a bureaucratic quirk of crossing the 140th meridian, not a sign the storm is fading — forecasters expect Lowell to reach hurricane strength by Monday or Monday night. At 50 mph winds and 1,150 miles southeast of Hilo, there's no reason for panic yet, and no watches or warnings are posted. My read is this is a "watch, don't worry" situation for now. If I had an Eastern Pacific sailing on the books, I'd bookmark the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's advisories rather than NHC's from Monday on, since that's where the next updates will post.