Hurricane Fausto has grown into a Category 2 storm churning through the Pacific Ocean, and forecasters are warning it could reach the Hawaiian Islands as early as next week.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued an alert Friday saying the chances of wind and rainfall impacts in Hawaii are on the rise, though officials cautioned it remains too early to pinpoint exactly where the storm will hit or how severe the effects could be.
As of the latest update, Fausto was located roughly 1,300 miles west of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and approximately 1,600 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii — still far out to sea. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of around 100 mph.
Forecasters also warned that large swells produced by Fausto could generate dangerous surf conditions and life-threatening rip currents along parts of southern California’s coastline.
While Fausto has been building strength in the Pacific, another storm was making news closer to the mainland. Tropical Storm Bertha swept along the Gulf Coast, bringing heavy surf and flooding to parts of southern Louisiana and Texas when it made landfall for a second time on Thursday. By late Thursday evening, the National Hurricane Center announced that Bertha had weakened and dissipated.
