Hawaii's Ports Prepare for Tropical Storm Lala

Tropical Storm Lala is approaching Hawaii and shaping up to turn into a Category 1 hurricane, and the U.S. Coast Guard is taking steps to make sure that harbors and mariners are ready.

Effective Friday night and Saturday morning, the Coast Guard is shutting down ports across the island chain in preparation for the storm's arrival. Port condition Zulu will be set for all of Hawaii's counties by 0800 local time Saturday morning. The declaration requires vessels of 200 GT or over to depart port in advance of the storm, unless they have special permission from the captain of the port to stay. After port condition Zulu takes effect, the port is fully closed, and no vessel or cargo operations are permitted within it unless they get explicit permission.

A rare hurricane warning is now in effect for the Big Island, along with tropical storm warnings and watches for the other main islands.

It is rare for a hurricane to reach the Hawaiian Islands, and Lala was not initially expected to reach full hurricane strength. As of Friday, Lala was still in tropical storm but was becoming more compact, favoring further intensification overnight.

At present, the storm is expected to pass near the Big Island's South Point on Saturday with hurricane-force winds. Tropical storm-force winds are expected to extend outward about 200 nautical miles from the storm's center.

After passing the Big Island, the storm's track is expected to take it south of Oahu and the other main islands, and it should drift out to open ocean by Monday as a weaker tropical storm. Re-intensification is expected on Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing it back up to hurricane strength.

On the Big Island, the county civil defense department has geared up for the rare storm with emergency shelters, and has advised residents to finish preparations and get ready to weather the storm. Flood watch or flash-flood warnings were in effect for most of the island chain.