Lala's stormy close encounter with Hawaii to last into Sunday night
Inches to feet of rain are being unleashed, causing flooding, with winds strong enough to cause power outages and surf heavy enough to be damaging and dangerous as Lala drifts just south of the Hawaiian Islands.
A bridge in Hilo, Hawaii, was overtaken by raging floodwaters during relentless rainfall from Hurricane Lala on Aug. 15.
Flooding downpours, damaging winds and dangerous seas will spread westward across the Hawaiian Islands into Sunday night before slowly abating on Monday as Tropical Storm Lala spins along.
One person has died and others have been injured in an automobile accident on Saturday related to Lala on the Big Island, multiple sources say. All of the islands were under a tropical storm warning, with many areas under flash flooding warnings as of Sunday morning.
"Lala, which dipped to tropical storm wind intensity early on Sunday, is expected to continue moving toward the west to northwest over the next couple of days, with fluctuations in strength and wobbles with its track," AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said.
As it pulls away from the islands and the mountainous terrain, it could become a hurricane once again.
Conditions in Honolulu will fluctuate, but the metro area is expected to be in the zone of intense rainfall on one or more occasions, which could lead to major flooding and travel disruptions. The closer the storm gets to the islands, the worse the rain, wind and seas will be. A dry slot that develops near and east of the westward-moving center can abruptly cut off the rain for a time.
On the AccuWeather RealImpact™Scale for Hurricanes, Lala remains a 2.
Lala's impacts so far
On Saturday, Lala strengthened to a hurricane with the 3 p.m. ET advisory, 9 a.m. Hawaii time. But, even though the eye of the storm passed a mere 30 miles off the rocky southern tip of Ka Lae on the Big Island during Saturday night, it still managed to bring 15-30 inches of rain to the Big Island, while strong winds cut power and monstrous waves reached the shoreline as pounding breakers.
A view of the rising water levels at the Wainaku Street Bridge in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Taylor Cozloff/Civil Beat via AP)
As of Sunday morning, wind gusts as high as 140 mph have been observed at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island, where heavy snow and blizzard conditions were observed. Intermediate elevation gusts to 91 mph have been observed at Waimea on the Big Island and near 80 mph on Molokai.
Lala knocked out power to more than 25% of utility customers statewide, with 65% without power on the Big Island. As of Sunday evening, power has been restored to all of the islands but Kauai. Power outages will gradually be restored on Kauai into Monday as strong gusts become less frequent and crews ramp up repair operations as conditions permit.
What to expect in Hawaii as Lala continues westward
As of Sunday night, Lala was southwest of the Kauai. The strongest winds and heaviest rain has ended, but gusty winds and heavy downpours will continue into Monday morning on Oahu and Kauai. While rain has ended for the islands east of Oahu, there will still be areas of flooding, mudslides and other debris flows over the islands. Motorists are strongly urged not to drive through flooded roads, as water levels may be deeper than they appear, or drive along hillsides where runoff is active, as the road could give way or falling debris may occur with no notice.
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• Damaging winds: Widespread gusts of 40-60 mph are possible from Honolulu to Kauai through Sunday night. The maximum observed wind gust is 91 mph. Strong wind gusts will lead to power outages.
• Dangerous storm surge, seas and surf: Surf and rip currents are expected through the weekend. A storm surge of 1-3 feet is expected across the westernmost islands, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 feet. Some of the worst conditions may be in the southern and southeastern parts of the islands, which are usually sheltered from trade-wind seas.
Heavy seas will continue throughout the islands into the middle of the week. The conditions will be dangerous for small craft with the risk of sneaker waves along the coast. The heavy swell and wave action will be most pronounced in the trade wind shadow zones, increasing the risk of dangerous and damaging conditions.
AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes
In contrast to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which classifies storms by wind speed only, the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes is based on a broad range of important factors. In order to better communicate a more comprehensive representation of the potential impact of a storm on lives and livelihoods, the scale covers not only wind speed but also flooding rain, storm surge and economic damage and loss.
How rare are tropical storms and hurricanes in Hawaii?
Landfalling storms are rare for the Big Island.
Lala is not expected to turn northward and significantly strengthen as Major Hurricane Iniki did in September 1992. Iniki's winds peaked at 145 mph before striking Kauaʻi from the south. Iniki took the lives of seven people and was the costliest hurricane in Hawaii's history with damage reaching $3.1 billion in 1992.
"Tropical Storms Darby in 2016 and Iselle in 2014 remain the only tropical storms to ever make landfall on Hawaii's Big Island," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said. "A hurricane has never made landfall on the Big Island."
“One storm that closely resembles Lala was Hurricane Hone in late August of 2024. Hone passed about 50 miles south of the Big Island as a Category 1 hurricane,” explained AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva. “Despite never making landfall in Hawaii, Hone brought more than 2 feet of rain to portions of the Big Island, causing significant flooding, as well as winds in excess of 70 mph.”
Lala is but part of an active eastern Pacific hurricane season as El Niño continues to strengthen. Additional threats to Hawaii are possible as the season progresses.
As of Aug. 16, eight named storms and three hurricanes had formed, including Category 5 Hurricane Genevieve. Fausto had been the only named storm this season to travel as far west as Hawaii’s longitude, passing well north of the islands in late July.
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