Hurricane season 2026

[TomK]

The disturbance is now around 127 west 10 degrees north. Chances of development into a storm is now 70% in the next 48 hours and 90% in the next 7 days. Obviously, it'll have a hard time getting to the islands, but I do suggest keeping an eye on it.

The disturbance is now around 127 west 10 degrees north. Chances of development into a storm is now 70% in the next 48 hours and 90% in the next 7 days. Obviously, it'll have a hard time getting to the islands, but I do suggest keeping an eye on it.

I'd copy the current image of the East Pacific, but NHC and NOAA are having problems.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?cpac

[Wao nahele kane]

The disturbance is now around 127 west 10 degrees north. Chances of development into a storm is now 70% in the next 48 hours and 90% in the next 7 days. Obviously, it'll have a hard time getting to the islands, but I do suggest keeping an eye on it.

The disturbance is now around 127 west 10 degrees north. Chances of development into a storm is now 70% in the next 48 hours and 90% in the next 7 days. Obviously, it'll have a hard time getting to the islands, but I do suggest keeping an eye on it.

I'd copy the current image of the East Pacific, but NHC and NOAA are having problems.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?cpac

   

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

It’s here. It’s a super El Niño:

El Niño has officially begun, and it is forecast to intensify into a very strong or “Super” El Niño with major shifts in global weather patterns and an even hotter climate, according to a new report released Thursday morning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For it to be considered a Super El Niño, tropical Pacific water temperatures must be more than 2 degrees above average. Some reliable computer models suggest that bar will be greatly exceeded.

The hurricane season connections could spell trouble for the Southwest US and Hawaii, depending on where individual storms track.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/11/weath...ts-climate

[TomK]

Yes. Storms might become stronger and perhaps more frequent in a strong El Niño, but the island remains a tiny place. I know many say "target" when it comes to hurricanes, but that's not a good way to think about it. Hurricanes don't target places. More storms mean the chances of being hit increase, and more powerful storms mean that if the island is hit, the damage will be worse if it's hit by one of those powerful storms compared to if it weren't.

[terracore]

terracore, you are correct, different model, same size though.

I am familiar with optimistic propane ratings…the generator was lame in my experience. Hope you experience better if you ordered one.

We should stop hijacking thread…

Cheers,
Kirt

I found the generator works within the expected range for one at this price point.  Per specs I should be expecting 1,900 watts and I get 1,600 reliably, which is as good or better margin than other cheap Chinese inverter generators I've used.  I do have to "ramp up" consumption to hit the 1,600 watts, which is again in line with other cheap inverter generators. (A comparable Honda would be over $1000, but they are engineered to be repaired, not replaced.  They are also engineered to hit their specs.)

It's currently on sale for $269 and I got the $80 refund for filling out the 30-day price price match guarantee form.  But again the appeal of this particular unit is that they will actually ship it to Hawaii and for just a couple of bucks.

[knieft]

I found the generator works within the expected range for one at this price point…currently on sale for $269 and I got the $80 refund for filling out the 30-day price price match guarantee form.  But again the appeal of this particular unit is that they will actually ship it to Hawaii and for just a couple of bucks.

Seems like it is a value/bargain for what it is. Hopefully it could handle charging your bigger EcoFlow power station if used during an outage, which would be very useful.

But you can imagine the lame propane performance, especially for running a few hours to charge solar batteries when needed. I shoot for the 70-75% capacity sweet spot as well, which would be well under 10amps on propane for the propane version. On top of the very poor surge cut out.

Champions are twice the price but nearly twice the performance, especially the surge. And half the price of Honda. Free shipping from Sportmans warehouse, but Costco sometimes has them locally…as well as Home Depot.

Thanks for the follow up!

Cheers,
Kirt

[ChunksterK]

Boarding up windows?

During Iselle, the frau and I had several large single pane picture windows which bowed significantly, but did not break. Given the increased possibility of storms during the current El Nino, we are looking into cutting plywood covers for our windows. Of course Google is loaded with info, but I am interested in anyone's experience here on the Big Island. Apparently the accepted standard is 5/8 to 3/4 inch exterior grade plywood, although some sources say one could get by with half inch.

Projectiles were not an issue during Iselle due to both neighborhood wide diligence about removing loose objects and the fact that it was not a major storm. If buildings start flying apart, however, that situation would certainly change.

Our plan is to buy the plywood in the next few days, cut it to size, treat with a coating to extend longevity, number the pieces to match a diagram of the windows, and store them in the garage. Installation would be 24-36 hours before an anticipated landfall.

Anyone's experience with this or informed advice would be appreciated.

[HiloJulie]

We did virtually the same thing to our house years ago Chunkster.

I would recommend the 3/4-inch plywood however, as if the window is a large expanse, the thinner plywoods may "flex" in the middle. Also, make sure the plywood is attached to the house very secure and tight as to eliminate the possibility that during a hurricane or other high wind scenario, the wind could not get underneath or behind the plywood and more or less pull it off the home. If the window(s) are really wide, you may consider a center attachment piece - or "batten strip" to additionally secure the plywood to the home.

One other added thing we did was cover the window side of the plywood with some old rather thick quilt type bedspreads we got at the various reuse centers. Used carpet glue to attach them. Probably not needed but did it as feel-good extra protection.

Good luck!

[Punatang]

Chunkster, my Dad made them for our house when I was a kid.  For context, he wrote a book on weather.  Anyway, Dad put a hole cutter on his drill, the kind and size you would use to drill a doorknob hole in a new door.  He made a pattern of holes in the 3/4 inch plywood in order to prevent pressure from building on either side of the board and causing problems. The system worked well.  Alles in ordnung. 

Kirt, neither the surge rating on the generator, nor meow meow propane performance, is an issue when you power your stuff with the Eco Flow and the Eco Flow with the generator.  You can set the input watts to whatever you like on the ecoflow, using a phone app, so the smallest, quietest, most efficient (for your priorities) generator will get-r-done.  A few foldable solar panels really help after the storm when the power stays off.  You might find that you leave them out all of the time until there is a storm because you might decide to isolate some power hungry thing (or two) in your home and run it full time on your eco-flow.  It's a baby step to full solar.  You can even charge the Eco Flow with solar and generator at the same time if needed - like after a storm when you need it for more heavy loads.

Ultimately, it is really only the surge rating and running watts of the Eco Flow that is critical.

ETA:  The most important thing we can do to make sure our gas generator starts when we need it, is to empty the fuel tank before storing it away.  Run the generator until it conks out from lack of gas, then store it.  If you fail to do that, you will find that it may not start after a few months.  There is a float bowl or prime bowl with brass jet that has a tiny tiny puka in it.  If your generator ever fails to start, it is extremely likely that that little tiny puka is clogged with old fuel gunk or varnish or something.  Fuel can not pass through.  With patience and very minor tools (even a Leatherman), you can open most small generators, find and remove that bowl with the jet and puka, and clean it out.  Poke a wire like from a wire brush through that jet puka.  Put in some clean fuel and your generator will probably start.  No new parts needed.

[terracore]

Thanks for reminding me-  One of the downsides of this cheap generator is that it doesn't have a fuel shutoff valve.  I've never seen one without it before.  Normally I shut the fuel valve and the loads off and let the generator run dry so there isn't any gas left in the carb.  Oh well, can't have everything.

We put plywood up on our front windows before Iselle.  Why only the front?  That's as far as we could get, and it was the storm-facing side.  Some of the pieces were cut and labeled for future use.  After the storm we put them in storage and haven't used them since.  I think I stole a sheet of plywood for some other project but most of it still sits there all these years later.  One of the side effects of having even half the windows boarded up was how hot and humid the house got.  I couldn't wait to take them down after the storm. As I was hanging the plywood, I thought that if this was going to be a regular thing, I would permanently install threaded studs.  It would make hanging the plywood really easy because a single person could just match the holes in the plywood with the studs on the house and anchor them with wing nuts.  No tools or assistant needed. Removal would also be a lot easier. I don't remember the thickness of the plywood-  Home Depot had moved stacks of plywood specifically for this purpose to the entry so people could grab as many as they needed and check out quickly without going deep into the store, as well as staging employees to help load and move things along.

Of course we already had a generator and plenty of 5 gallon gas cans, but those sold out quickly. HD also brought all their 1 gallon gas cans to the front of the store as they were the only size left.  Also moved to the front were cases of water, flashlights, tarps, rope, batteries, and just about every other storm-related paraphernalia one could think of. They clearly had a pre-storm action plan.

Here's a hint for all the procrastinators: Nobody on the Kona side was buying anything before the storm.  The stores there had plenty of generators, gas cans, you name it. Costco had brought down a bunch of generators onto the floor for easy grab and go and nobody was buying them.  So if you wait too long to prepare, the Kona stores might be able to save you since most of the storms track to our side of the island and there is an almost religious belief that the mountains will save everybody else in the state.  

We were astounded at how ill prepared people were for the storm considering that we had several days of warning. It's like most people stuck their head in the blue rock and believed it couldn't happen. People didn't know how to get water from their tanks with no power, they had no refrigeration, their food spoiled, and they didn't stock up on basic necessities.  They didn't even go to the ATM to get cash and some local stores couldn't take plastic or checks for a few days. We helped a lot of neighbors out with food, water, and other items.

There are a lot of prep lists for things like hurricanes and other natural disasters so I'm not going to post them here, but here are a few things that aren't commonly on the lists that we found useful when otherwise all prepped and ready to go:  Make sure all the laundry is done and the house and dishes are clean.  If you're rationing electricity and/or water you don't need a bunch of deferred chores that require it.  Make ice.  Even if you have a generator you're not going to want to run it 24 hours a day.  We froze some large juice containers full of water and they helped keep the fridge cold at night when the generator was off. Use drinkable water in case you need to drink it later.  Ice was also nice just to have something cold to drink. Not just for comfort, but to ward off heat injuries. After Iselle it was unusually hot and humid and I was doing a lot of hard labor outside patching fences and a million other things etc and having something ice cold to drink made a big difference on how long I could go without a substantial break. Take all your crap to the transfer station.  It might be closed or inaccessible after the storm and you'll be creating piles of debris etc, you don't want a pre-existing pile of crap to also deal with.  Make sure your chainsaw works and you have enough oil and spare sharp chains. After Iselle people were burning through chains faster than they could get them sharpened.  If you don't already have them, stock up on strong cable ties. They are great for quick fence repairs and a million other things.  If you have livestock, mark some of them with something conspicuous with your phone number on it.  They tend to stick together so you don't have to mark them all, but fences are going to come down and livestock might wander off.  Mark the friendly ones.  People won't be able to get close enough to the shy ones to read your number.  Plan on wired internet being unavailable for an extended period (days or weeks).  If you don't have a wireless option (cellular or Starlink) you'll be unconnected.  Back in the Iselle days, wireless was the only internet option for a lot of Puna on a good day, so some people are actually less resilient for an internet outage now than they were then. And most importantly, plan on being trapped at your house.  It's great to go to the ATM and have cash before the storm, but that doesn't help if you can't get to the store because there's 5 miles of roads clogged with trees and downed power lines between you and the highway.