Nolo Intensifies to 135kt as It Clears Hawaii, Heads for Remote Pacific Monument

Wayne's instruments clocked Hurricane Nolo at 135kt (roughly 155mph) at position 16.8N, -161.9W — a figure well above the 115mph sustained winds reported by the National Hurricane Center as of Sunday, when Nolo sat about 365 miles south-south-west of Honolulu, according to [1]. The storm was forecast to strengthen further as it turned north-west, and the position in the trigger is consistent with that continued intensification carrying it into the open Pacific south-west of the islands. The immediate human story, though, happened before that strengthening. Heavy rain from Nolo's outer bands hit the southern Big Island on Saturday, flooding the Mamalahoa highway near Naalehu and prompting Hawaii Army National Guard members to wade into flooded streets to help a resident leave his home, according to [1]. More than 120 Guard members were activated on the Big Island as part of roughly 400 deployed statewide after the governor's emergency proclamation, per [1]. Forecasters warned parts of the Big Island could see up to 20 inches of rain, with National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan cautioning residents against travel given both flooding and downed trees and power lines, according to [1]. Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration authorising FEMA support, and Hawaiian Electric redirected crews from Kauai's ongoing Hurricane Lowell restoration back to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, according to [1]. Critically, the National Hurricane Center's own guidance as of Sunday held that Nolo's centre would stay well south and south-west of the Hawaiian Islands, approaching instead the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument — a national conservation area with no permanent population — early this week, according to [1]. If Wayne's 16.8, -161.9 reading is current, that trajectory would put the now-135kt storm on a path through or near that reserve rather than threatening further landfalls on inhabited islands, though the material does not confirm Nolo's exact track past Sunday's report. The broader pattern is what makes Nolo notable beyond its own track. It is the third major hurricane to menace Hawaii this season, after Lala in August and Lowell in early September — the former sweeping around 100 homes off their foundations on the Big Island, according to [2]. NHC's Brennan has called this run of storms "somewhat rare," noting Hawaii hasn't taken a direct hurricane landfall since Iniki in 1992, according to [2]. NOAA lead forecaster Matthew Rosencrans attributes the shift to El Niño pushing storm formation further south and west, "in a place where they could make that westward run towards the Hawaiian islands," according to [2]. Warmer-than-usual sea surface temperatures are also feeding storms more moisture and stronger winds, per NOAA and Union of Concerned Scientists climate scientist Marc Alessi, cited in [2]. None of the source material independently verifies the 135kt figure or the exact -161.9 longitude fix; both come from the estate's own tracking. Given NHC's own Sunday guidance had Nolo strengthening toward, not away from, the islands' vicinity before curving north-west, treat the instrument reading as plausible but not yet corroborated by public reporting. What to watch: whether NHC's next advisories confirm Nolo reaching or exceeding 135kt, and whether its track holds clear of Papahānaumokuākea or any inhabited Hawaiian islands.