Hurricane Karina Strengthens to Category 1 Far Off Mexico's Pacific Coast, Poses No Threat to Land

Tropical Storm Karina strengthened into a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday and could become a major storm this week, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Karina had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 storm. Forecasters say it could intensify into a major hurricane, Category 3 or stronger, sometime this week, according to the Associated Press.

Karina's center was about 820 miles southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula on Sunday, moving northwest at 15 mph on a track that takes it farther out into open ocean. It is not threatening land.

The one real-world impact is dangerous surf and rip currents along southwest Mexico and the Baja Peninsula as Karina's swells roll toward shore, the hurricane center warned. Anyone heading to those beaches this week should check local surf advisories before going in the water.

A Second Storm, Also No Threat

Farther west, Tropical Storm Lowell was sitting about 1,150 miles southeast of Hawaii as of Sunday, according to the same National Hurricane Center advisory carried by the AP. Like Karina, Lowell poses no threat to land.

Hawaii is still recovering from a much rougher stretch of weather earlier this month. Hurricane Lala passed close enough to the Big Island in mid-August to dump more than three feet of rain in some spots, according to the Epoch Times, triggering flooding and landslides that washed away homes in Naalehu and Waiohinu and left highways impassable. Power outages, downed trees, rock slides, and severe winds also hit Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, and Kauai.

Hawaiian Electric said on X, as reported by the Epoch Times on August 19, that some customers in the southeast end of the Big Island could remain without power through Labor Day weekend, with 95% of customers expected to have service restored by September 8 — provided a separate low-pressure system being watched near Hawaii did not disrupt restoration work. That system had a 90% chance of organizing into a cyclone, which would have been named Tropical Storm Moke, with forecast models at the time estimating it would stay offshore and pass well south of the islands. None of the sources reviewed confirm whether that system ever organized or what shape Hawaiian Electric's restoration effort is in as of this week.

The Season So Far

NOAA has forecast a below-average Atlantic hurricane season this year, citing El Niño conditions, according to the AP. The agency's outlook called for 8 to 14 named storms, 3 to 6 reaching hurricane strength, and 1 to 3 becoming major hurricanes.

That forecast is for the Atlantic basin. Karina and Lowell are Pacific storms, tracked separately by the same National Hurricane Center in Miami, and the Pacific has already produced a damaging system this year in Lala.

For anyone on the West Coast, in Mexico, or in Hawaii this week, both active storms are forecast to stay at sea. The National Hurricane Center's own advisories are the only source worth checking for changes. Forecast tracks for tropical systems shift, sometimes fast, and a storm hundreds of miles from land today can look different in 72 hours. The open question is whether Karina actually reaches major hurricane strength as forecasters expect, and whether Hawaiian Electric hits its September 8 restoration target for storm-damaged customers on the Big Island without further disruption.