Hurricane Felicia Update: Less Danger to Hawaii

Hurricane Felicia updates were ominous earlier in the weekend, but the Hurricane Felicia update is looking a little better now. The latest Hurricane Felicia update is that Hurricane Felicia is close to being downgraded, just as it gets closer to Hawaii. Beforehand, each Hurricane Felicia update had the storm getting stronger, and packing a big punch when it got to Hawaii. However, the most recent update suggests that Hawaii may be spared the brunt of the storm, though a big storm is still coming.

A few days ago, updates on Hurricane Felicia painted a scary picture, as the storm was as strong as a Category 4 on Thursday. At its worst, the storm had winds at up to 140 mph, but was decreasing as it approached land.

Nevertheless, the previous Hurricane Felicia update made Hawaii take notice, and get ready for some nasty weather. Beaches were closed this weekend, and Maui and Oahu prepared for flash flood warnings.

However, today's Hurricane Felicia update has an otherwise optimistic picture. Hurricane Felicia is now all but down to a tropical storm, as its Category 4 power is long gone. By now, the system can be classified as a tropical storm or a tropical depression.

Still, the latest predictions involve a lot of rain over the next several hours, and Oahu is still under threat from gale-force winds. The latest Hurricane Felicia update suggested that cold Pacific Ocean winds helped finally calm the system down.

While Hawaii prepares for less dangerous weather to hit, their blessings still must be counted. Though Hawaii dodged a bullet from Hurricane Felicia, much harsher weather did not spare China during the weekend.

Taiwan was hit with a massive typhoon yesterday, while another one hit Japan as well. Typhoon Morakot was the most damaging, as it mainly hit Taiwan and spread to China and the Phillippines, killing several, leaving hundreds missing, and leaving millions displaced. Meanwhile, Typhoon Etau hit in Japan's west coast.

The weather is causing great disaster on one side of the Pacific Ocean, while storms are dying down on the other side. Hurricane Felicia updates should be close to an end as the storm dies in Hawaii, while major updates on the typhoons are just beginning.

Sources

Starbulletin.com- "Weakened Felicia still packs punch" www.starbulletin.com/news/20090810_weakened_felicia_still_packs_punch.html

Los Angeles Times- "Hawaii to close beaches as Hurricane Felicia nears" www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pacific-hurricane9-2009aug09,0,2959584.story

myFoxphoenix.com- "Typhoons Kill Dozens, Hundreds Missing" www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/world/dpg_Typhoons_Asia_Storms_fc_20090810_2904562