Hurricane Lala lashes Hawaii with winds, flooding rain on final approach
Lala could become the first landfalling hurricane on the Big Island. Tropical-storm force winds, heavy rain bands are spreading across Hawaii Island.
Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby reports from Hawaii’s Big Island, where Lala could make the first officially recorded landfall for a hurricane in modern history.
Hawaii is bracing for Hurricane Lala as tropical-storm force winds and heavy rain are becoming more widespread across the Big Island of Hawaii on Saturday.
Lala formed into a tropical storm early Thursday southeast of Hawaii and has continued to gradually strengthen, becoming a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday with sustained winds of 75 mph. Hawaii County is under a hurricane warning with hurricane-force winds expected later Saturday on the Big Island. The last time a hurricane watch or warning was issued for the islands was during Hurricane Douglas in 2020.
Shaheer Faltas, left, and his father-in-law, Joe Brosnan, fill sandbags in preparation for the arrival of Tropical Storm Lala in Captain Cook, Hawaii, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
[See the track, impacts and latest AccuWeather forecast on Tropical Storm Lala here.]
Ahead of the storm, Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda urged island residents to prepare for the weekend’s biggest impacts.
“All residents on Hawaii Island pls take this time to prepare for possible impact by (1) reviewing your Emergency Plan, (2) making sure you have food, water, medication, and fuel and (3) by signing up for Civil Defense public alert messages,” Alameda wrote on Facebook.
Storm shelters opened across Hawaii Island at 6 p.m. Friday.
Hurricane Lala in the Pacific Ocean approaching Hawaii on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Image: NOAA)
Maui County officials have also urged residents to prepare. Emergency management officials recommended having enough food, water, medications and other essential supplies to last at least 14 days.
Power outages expected across Hawaii
AccuWeather hurricane experts are forecasting more than 2 feet of rain on the Big Island through the weekend with a more widespread 8-12 inches expected and an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 30 inches.
Early Saturday, sustained winds of 46 miles per hour and a gust of 69 mph were reported at Puuloa on the Big Island. A gust of 40 mph was reported at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu. Hawaii Department of Transportation crews have already been responding to trees down, blocking roads on Hawaii island, Maui and Oahu.
Power outages began rising across Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties early Saturday, according to Poweroutage.us.
Hawaii Electric began preparing for Lala earlier in the week. The provider said more than 500 employees, contractors and support workers are positioned across the state to help with power restoration efforts following the storm.
Coastal areas also face a growing threat. Swells generated by Lala are expected reached east-facing shores Friday before spreading west and building through the weekend, producing life-threatening surf and rip currents.
Big waves were already building across Hawaii. Surf is forecast to increase to as much as 20 feet for east-facing shores from Upolu Point in North Kohala to South Point in Ka`u.
Lala is arriving as the Big Island is already dealing with other natural hazards.
Lava fountains reached heights of 80-100 feet above Kilauea’s summit in Hawaii on Aug. 12. Footage shared by the USGS shows the eruption during the day and at night inside Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
The Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as Saddle Road, reopened between Old Saddle Road and Highway 190 on Friday. Crews were battling a wildfire that started Tuesday in South Kohala, leading to the temporary closure. The fire had burned about 230 acres and was 60% contained as of Wednesday with crews from Hawaii County, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Pohakuloa Training Area and the Hawaii Army National Guard involved in the response.
Kilauea also produced its 53rd eruptive episode of the ongoing summit eruption Wednesday afternoon into early Thursday. The episode began at 3:45 p.m. HST Wednesday and ended at 1:23 a.m. Thursday after 9.6 hours of lava fountaining. Fountains reached approximately 500 feet above the ground while the volcanic plume climbed to about 18,000 feet above sea level. The U.S. Geological Survey said another lava-fountaining episode is likely.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will close most areas to the public beginning Friday at noon ahead of Lala's arrival.
Hawaii’s Big Island has never had a hurricane landfall. Could Lala be the first?
If Lala makes landfall as a hurricane on the Big Island, it would be the first known hurricane landfall there in the modern historical record, according to AccuWeather hurricane experts.
Tropical cyclone landfalls on the Big Island are rare. Tropical Storm Iselle crossed the Ka'Å« coast near Pahala in August 2014 after weakening from a hurricane shortly before reaching the island. Tropical Storm Darby made landfall near Pahala in July 2016 before crossing the southern half of the island.
The island’s towering terrain can disrupt the circulation of approaching tropical cyclones. Both Iselle and Darby weakened or became significantly disrupted as they encountered the Big Island’s mountainous terrain.
Still, a tropical storm or hurricane does not need to make landfall to produce dangerous impacts.
Hurricane Hone passed about 50 miles south of the Big Island in August 2024, bringing heavy rain and tropical-storm-force winds to parts of the island. Hone’s center made its closest approach about 45 nautical miles south of South Point while the storm was strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane.
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