The EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN A tropical storm soon turned into Hurricane Gil off the coast of the US, which led to Hawaii officials warning tourists to be careful and sending out fire danger advisories all around the state. The hurricane, which was quickly upgraded from a tropical storm, is now around 1,000 miles southwest of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and has winds that stay at 75 mph (120 kph).
The storm itself is not predicted to hit land directly, but it is moving quickly enough that it might have effects as far away as California as early as today, Saturday, August 2, 2025.
Hawaii is at a higher risk of fire because of tropical activity.
Hurricane Gil is still going strong in the Eastern Pacific, but Hawaii is dealing with its own weather problems. Because of the passing of Tropical Storm Iona and another nearby weather system, officials in the Aloha State have issued fire hazard warnings. These systems are moving well south of the islands and are not expected to have a direct effect on tropical storms. However, their interaction with a ridge of high pressure to Hawaii’s north is causing winds that are moderately strong.
The Honolulu National Weather Service has said that “strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels can all make fires behave in strange ways.” If there are any fires, they will probably spread quickly. This is especially worrying because Hawaii is prone to flames, as tragically shown by the terrible Maui fires in August 2023, which were made worse by strong winds from a distant cyclone.
On Saturday, August 2, Oahu and Kauai are likely to see wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph. Maui and the Big Island may have gusts of up to 50 mph, especially in leeward locations. The relative humidity is forecast to dip to 35–45% in the afternoons, which will make the terrain very easy to catch fire. Officials are telling people who live and work in the area to not burn anything outside, not park cars on dry grass, and not do anything that makes sparks until the weather gets better.
The predicted path and weakening trend of Hurricane Gil: Meteorologists say that Hurricane Gil will keep moving west-northwest at a pace of about 20 mph (31 kph). The hurricane center, on the other hand, thinks that the storm will start to weaken over the weekend as it crosses over cooler waters and meets drier, more stable air in the middle of the atmosphere. Gil might turn post-tropical as soon as Sunday, August 3. Its remnants will move westward more slowly by Monday.
Tropical Depression Iona, which is more than 1,400 miles west of Honolulu, got worse on Saturday as it got closer to the International Date Line. Iona used to be a hurricane, but it has lost a lot of strength and is not now threatening land.
USA Today’s Tropical Storm Gil hurricane tracker shows the most likely path of the storm center for anybody who want to keep an eye on where the storm is likely to go. Keep in mind that the storm’s center could move outside of the cone up to 33% of the time. Also, the cone doesn’t show the storm’s full width or all of its effects.