Hurricane Nolo put the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands under a hurricane warning

Hurricane Nolo has a hurricane warning up for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The National Weather Service’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center listed a Hurricane Warning for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument from Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals in its intermediate advisory 34A, issued at 8 p.m. Hawaii time on Monday, September 28, 2026, the latest advisory confirmed for this article.

At that hour Nolo was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and a minimum central pressure of 950 millibars, about 330 miles southeast of French Frigate Shoals. The storm is forecast to stay well west and southwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. Every figure below is tied to the advisory time at which it was issued, because the numbers are changing quickly.

The 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. advisories

The three-hour-earlier forecast advisory 34, issued at 0300 UTC on September 29 (5 p.m. Hawaii time), put Nolo’s center near 18.8 degrees north, 163.7 degrees west, moving northwest at 11 knots. It gave maximum sustained winds of 110 knots, about 125 mph, with gusts to 150 knots, and a central pressure of 945 millibars. It listed hurricane-force winds extending 30 nautical miles from the center in its strongest quadrant.

The intermediate advisory 34A then showed the storm easing to 120 mph and 950 millibars, moving north-northwest at 15 mph, with hurricane-force winds reaching 35 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 150 miles. The warning was unchanged. The advisory said hurricane conditions were expected in the warning area by Wednesday and tropical-storm conditions likely by Tuesday, and that a hurricane watch might be needed for other parts of the monument by Tuesday.

In the advisory’s words, “hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area,” so the designation covers the whole stretch from Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals rather than each islet separately.

A warning for islands few people visit

The monument’s website calls Papahānaumokuākea “the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area under the U.S. flag.” Its ten islands and atolls run from Nihoa and Mokumanamana to Kure Atoll. NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Hawaii and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs co-manage it.

Advisory 34A warned of potential inundation of low-lying atolls, especially from French Frigate Shoals to Nihoa, with dangerous conditions already beginning to reach the southeastern waters of the marine monument. The monument’s own site lists Hawaiian monk seals and humpback whales among the wildlife in the area.

The main islands felt the storm’s edge over the weekend even though its center stayed far away. Hawaii Public Radio’s live coverage reported that as of 5 p.m. Sunday, September 27, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center had Nolo at 145 mph with strengthening expected, and that high wind warnings covered Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii Island, with gusts to 50 mph and a 67 mph gust along Kohala Mountain Road. More than 11,000 customers in Maui County and over 4,000 on Hawaii Island lost power, and a brush fire near Olowalu Village burned more than 100 acres, the station reported.

Weakening, then a possible rebound

Nolo had been far stronger days earlier. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii Emergency Management Agency described a Category 4 storm on September 28 that was moving away from the islands. The state agency said Nolo was “expected to weaken tonight, with faster weakening through the middle of the week.”

Forecast advisory 34 laid out that path: winds of 100 knots by 1200 UTC on September 29, 90 knots by 0000 UTC on September 30, 75 knots by 1200 UTC on September 30, and 60 knots by October 2, with the center near 22.6 degrees north, 164.4 degrees west by September 30. The extended outlook holds winds around 70 to 75 knots, roughly 80 to 85 mph, through days four and five, and advisory 34A said weakening would be followed by some re-intensification later in the week.

For the inhabited islands, the concern is rain and surf. Advisory 34A said outer bands east of Nolo’s track “will produce 3 to 6 inches of rain across Kauai and Niihau,” raising flooding and mudslide risk, and that swells would create life-threatening surf and rip currents on south- and west-facing shores. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency told residents and visitors to “remain alert, avoid hazardous shoreline areas and continue monitoring official updates.”

Advisories issued after 8 p.m. on September 28 could not be retrieved for this article and may have changed the figures. The open questions are whether the warning is extended to more of the monument and whether the forecast weakening arrives before hurricane conditions are expected in the warning area on Wednesday.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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