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Hurricane Lane Prompts Haleakalā National Park Closure

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Published Date

August 22, 2018
Hurricane Lane was expected to give the Hawaiian Islands a glancing blow/NOAA

Hurricane Lane was expected to give the Hawaiian Islands a glancing blow/NOAA

Hurricane Lane was on course Wednesday to deliver a glancing blow, at least, to Hawaii, prompting Haleakalā National Park to close. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park has been mostly closed for months due to volcanic activity from the  Kīlauea Volcano.

Haleakalā staff announced that to protect visitor safety, the Summit and Kīpahulu Districts of the park would close at 4 p.m. Wednesday in anticipation of heavy winds and rain. The entrance gates would be locked and the park would not open for sunrise viewing on Thursday or Friday mornings. Park managers planned to assess conditions on Friday evening and re-open the park once it is safe to do so.

The park's Kīpahulu and Hosmer Grove campgrounds were scheduled to close at noon on Wednesday. Backcountry hikers have been notified they will need to leave the park before 4 p.m. Wednesday. All cabin reservations for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday have been canceled.

While a hurricane warning was in effect for the Big Island, where Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is located, Maui, home to Haleakalā, was under a hurricane watch early Wednesday. Other park units expected to be impacted by the storm were Kalaupapa National Historical Park on Molokai; Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park, and Pu`ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, all on the Big Island, and; World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument and Honouliuli National Monument, both on Oahu.

"On the forecast track, the center of Lane will move very close to or over the main Hawaiian Islands from Thursday through Saturday," the National Hurricane Center said. "Maximum sustained winds are near 160 mph (260 km/h) with higher gusts. Lane is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Slow weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, but Lane is forecast to remain a dangerous hurricane as it draws closer to the Hawaiian Islands."

Heavy rains, up to 20 inches in some areas, could generate landslides on the islands, the center added.

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