10 August 2009 / AP, HONOLULU
Several beach parks on Hawaii's Big Island will be closed beginning Sunday afternoon because of Hurricane Felicia, which is expected to increase wave heights as it approaches land, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency officials said on Saturday.
The National Weather Service in Honolulu, however, said Felicia would likely be downgraded to a tropical storm or tropical depression once it moves closer to the islands. Felicia peaked Thursday as a Category 4 storm with winds topping 140 mph (225 kph). But the weakening storm entered the Central Pacific on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (135 kph). The hurricane was about 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) east of Hilo Saturday morning, moving west-northwest at about 15 mph (24 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Forecasters said hurricane-force winds swirled 35 miles (56 kilometers) from its center, while tropical storm-force winds extended 115 miles (185 kilometers). The National Weather Service warned Friday that there remained “considerable uncertainty in the locations that will be affected, the onset and duration of heavy rains and the rainfall amounts.
