Tropical Storm Lowell Holds Steady on Westward Track, Could Become a Hurricane by Monday
If your cruise itinerary passes near 13.2N, 139.1W (roughly 1,150 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii), check for updates as Lowell could strengthen into a hurricane by Monday or Monday night. No coastal watches or warnings are in effect as of the last NHC advisory, but future updates will come from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center starting 5 a.m. HST. Track the storm's westward movement, currently 10 mph, through hurricanes.gov before and during your sailing.
What jumps out here is the handoff itself: this is the last public advisory the National Hurricane Center will issue on Lowell, with the baton passing to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center at 5 a.m. HST. That's a bureaucratic quirk of crossing 140W, not a sign the storm is winding down — in fact the opposite, with forecasters flagging possible hurricane strength by Monday. My read is that 50 mph winds moving west at 10 mph, 1,150 miles from Hilo, is not yet a booking-changing event for most Eastern Pacific itineraries, but it's worth watching given the strengthening trend. No coastal watches are up, so there's no immediate action required. If I had a sailing anywhere near that track next week, I'd bookmark the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's advisories rather than assume the story ends with NHC's sign-off.