© Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite StudiesSatellite view of Hurricane Lane.
Hurricane Lane strengthened to a powerful Category 5 storm late Tuesday as it made its way to a dangerously close encounter with the Hawaiian Islands in the coming days.
Although it is not certain whether the storm, packing peak winds of 160 mph, will directly strike the islands or just graze them, significant effects from rain, wind and waves are becoming increasingly likely.
The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning Tuesday evening for the Big Island, as Hawaii island is known. Hurricane watches are in effect for Maui and other small islands, and tropical-storm-force winds and heavy rain could affect those areas as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.
Because of the shape of Lane's projected path, which may parallel or track over the entire island chain, all of the islands may face hazards from the storm.
The storm may bring "damaging winds and life-threatening flash flooding from heavy rainfall," the weather service's Central Pacific Hurricane Center warned. "As Lane is expected to be slow-moving as it nears the islands, it will produce large and damaging surf, mainly along exposed south and west facing shores," it added.
The National Weather Service warned that considerable damage to roofs are possible, and that some locations may be uninhabitable for weeks.
Residents raced to grocery stores Tuesday, stocking up on bottled water, paper towels and toilet paper.
While hurricanes and tropical storms frequently roam close to the islands, direct hits are rare. The last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Iniki in 1992, which struck Kauai.
Comment: Snowfall in unusual places, record snowfall in others, and strange sights in our skies are just some of the signs of our cooling planet: