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Hurricane Jimena Expected to Hit Hawaii

Posted on: Sunday, 31 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

Hurricane Jimena headed toward the Big Island of Hawaii on Sunday and was expected to hit the island with high wind, high surf and heavy rain as it passes offshore.

Meanwhile, a weak tropical storm blew across the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas central coast Sunday, spreading locally heavy rain inland as it approached.

Far out in the Atlantic, the year's first major hurricane, Hurricane Fabian, was gathering strength but was still several days from landfall.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center posted a hurricane watch for Hawaii, the state's biggest and southernmost island, and a high surf warning was issued for the southern coast of Maui.

Wind of 40 mph, with gusts to 60 mph, was expected late Sunday along with 4 to 6 inches of rain and 8- to 12-foot surf. Up to 10 inches of rain was possible in some areas, meteorologists said.

The center of the hurricane was expected to pass about 65 miles offshore from South Point, the southern tip of the state, sometime early Monday, the hurricane center said.

At 8 a.m. EDT, Jimena was centered about 490 miles east-southeast of Hilo with sustained wind of 105 mph. Little change in strength was forecast before Monday. Hurricane-force wind of at least 79 mph extended up 35 miles out from the center, with tropical storm-force wind - at least 39 mph - ranged up to 140 miles out.

The storm was moving toward the west at about 17 mph and was expected to continue that motion for 24 hours.

The last hurricane to hit Hawaii was Iniki, which devastated Kauai on Sept. 11, 1992.

In Texas, the center of Tropical Storm Grace was expected to cross the coast Sunday, but it "remains ill defined ... barely a storm," the National Hurricane Center said.

A tropical storm warning was posted along a 200-mile stretch of Texas coast from Corpus Christi to High Island, midway between Galveston and Port Arthur.

Rain from Tropical Storm Grace had been falling across parts of eastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana since Saturday night.

Totals of 6 to 8 inches were possible in parts of Texas with lesser amounts likely in western Louisiana, meteorologists said.

At 8 a.m. EDT, Grace's poorly defined center was located about 85 miles east of Corpus Christi and was moving toward the northwest at about 14 mph, said the hurricane center in Miami.

Its maximum sustained wind blew at 40 mph, barely strong enough for the tropical storm rating, and little change in strength was likely before the center reaches the coast, the hurricane center said. Tropical storm-force wind of at least 39 mph extended up to 200 miles northeast of the center.

Despite its relatively low strength, the storm could cause additional problems for the area where Hurricane Claudette caused an estimated $90 million in losses in July.

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On the Net:

Central Pacific Hurricane Center: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/cphc/

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

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