The first hurricane of the 2020 eastern Pacific season is expected to bring strong winds, dangerous surf, and heavy rainfall to Hawaii on Sunday. The storm, Douglas, intensified Thursday into a Category 3 hurricane, with wind speeds of 120mph. The hurricane, currently about 1,470 miles east-southeast of Hilo, is expected to weaken starting Friday but will still be "at or near hurricane intensity" as it nears the island chain on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center says, per CNN. The chance of a direct hit is low, though the effects could still be severe, and the NHC warned Hawaii to be on guard.
Meanwhile, a tropical storm watch has been issued for part of the Texas Gulf Coast as Tropical Depression Eight is whirling 400 miles from Port O'Connor, per USA Today. It's slowly gaining strength and is expected to become a tropical storm before making landfall on Saturday. If that happens, it would be named Hanna and become the earliest recorded "H" storm on record in the Atlantic basin. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are possible, according to the NHC. Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Gonzalo, some 910 miles east of the Caribbean's Windward Islands, is likely to become a hurricane on Thursday as it continues to track west. Barbados, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines are under a hurricane watch, with warnings of life-threatening flash floods. (More hurricane stories.)
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