A rare hurricane landfall threat for Hawaii’s Big Island as strengthening Tropical Storm Lala nears

Saturday, August 15, 2026 79° Today's Paper Today • Last updated 6:08 a.m. The five-day forecast map for Tropical Storm Lala as of 5 a.m. today Satellite image of Tropical Storm Lala as it moved toward Hawaii on Friday. The wind-spreed forecast of Tropical Storm Lala as of this morning The rainfall forecast of Tropical Storm Lala as of this morning This satellite image shows Tropical Storm Lala as it nears the Big Island this morning. Lala, a powerful tropical storm, could become the first hurricane to make landfall on Hawaii island in over 150 years later today as continues on a path near or over the southern end of the island. Big Island residents are advised to stay sheltered today, while the rest of the state is advised to make final emergency preparations for Lala’s high winds and heavy rains as the storm passes south of the smaller islands through the weekend.

Missing media or need the complete publisher report? Open The Baltimore Sun

Scoop News DeskHawaii · Published Friday, August 14, 2026 at 4:25 PM UTCUpdated Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 7:22 AM UTC

Scoop News reporting summary

The text below was supplied by the Scoop Newsroom app. Third-party reporting is attributed in the source panel.

As of 5 a.m. today, Lala was about 110 miles southeast of South Point and 325 miles southeast of Honolulu with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and higher gusts, moving west-northwest at 13 mph, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Lala would also be the first hurricane to directly hit the state since 1992 when the deadly Category 4 Iniki devastated Kauai.

Breaking news moves fast. Follow @Will466513 on X for breaking news alerts. Follow on X →

Story timeline