KAILUA-KONA — An area of thunderstorms located hundreds of miles southeast of Hilo is not expected to develop into a tropical cyclone, Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasters said Friday.
Thunderstorms associated with a low about 550 miles southeast of Hilo weakened Friday and , over the next few days, the low will be moving into an area where the environment will be increasingly hostile. Dry air and strengthening southwest winds aloft are forecast to cause the low to dissipate by the middle of next week.
They gave it a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within two days.
Elsewhere in the Central Pacific, which is where Hawaii is located, no tropical cyclones are expected to form within the next five days.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression 13-E reached tropical storm strength Friday afternoon. Now named Kenneth, the tropical storm featured 40 mph winds and was located about 2,400 miles east of Hawaii as of press time. Additional strengthening is forecast, and Kenneth is expected to be upgraded to a hurricane on Sunday, according to the Miami-based National Weather Service.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Pacific, no tropical cyclone formation is forecast.