Tropical Storm Karina on Thursday continues to churn in the Eastern Pacific some 1,260 miles east-southeast of the Big Island, National Hurricane Center forecasters in Miami said.
At 11 a.m. Thursday, Karina was packing maximum sustained winds of 60 mph with higher gusts and moving toward the south-southeast at 3 mph, forecasters said.
Karina is expected to weaken starting on Friday, forecasters said. Tropical storm-force winds currently extend outward up to 60 miles.
National Hurricane Center officials in May predicted 14 to 20 named storms and seven to 11 hurricanes — including three to six major hurricanes — to form this year in the Eastern Pacific Basin. Overall, they gave the 2014 season a 50 percent chance of being above normal, 40 percent chance of being near-normal and a 10 percent chance of being below normal.
The Eastern Pacific averages 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes each year, according to the center.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season began May 15 and ends Nov. 30.