--- description: Hurricaine Hector is fluctuating in strength as it heads towards Hawaii's Big Island. Here's what to know about the storm's path title: Hurricane Hector Is Barreling Towards Hawaii and Could Hit Near the Erupting Volcano image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec597150eabc333e/69893714929fada62ebf13f2/hector.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [weather](/tag/weather/) ## weather Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hurricane Hector Is Barreling Towards Hawaii and Could Hit Near the Erupting Volcano  by [Ciara Nugent](/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:21 PM CUTPublished: Aug 6, 2018 1:06 PM CUT  Hurricane Hector is currently 1,130 miles southeast of Hawaii's Big Island Hurricane Hector is currently 1,130 miles southeast of Hawaii's Big IslandThe National Hurricane Center  by [Ciara Nugent](/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:21 PM CUTPublished: Aug 6, 2018 1:06 PM CUT Hurricane Hector is gaining strength as it barrels through the Pacific — and could make landfall in Hawaii by the middle of the week. The hurricane, which was upgraded to a Category 4 storm late Sunday night by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), is carrying sustained winds of up to 140 miles per hour, with hurricane force winds extending 30 miles from its center. > [](https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites/status/1025400554879676416) Hurricane Hector is currently 1,130 miles southeast of Big Island and moving west, according to the NHC’s[ latest advisory](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPEP5+shtml/060232.shtml "undefined"). The storm could make a direct hit near Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, which has been spewing lava and molten rock since it [erupted May 3.](http://time.com/5277626/hawaii-kilauea-volcano-eruption-space/ "undefined") Meterologist James Spann said [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/spann/status/1026081052899598336 "undefined") that it was “too soon to determine what kind of impacts might occur in the state, since track errors can be large at long time ranges.” [Forecasters say](http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38797281/powerful-hurricane-hector-continues-moving-toward-central-pacific "undefined") it is still too soon to say whether Hurricane Hector will touch down in Hawaii since the storm is still fluctuating and will likely weaken by Wednesday. > [](https://twitter.com/Themebar/status/1026292795466641408) The Hawaii Coast Guard has [set a port condition](https://www.facebook.com/USCGHawaiiPacific/posts/1785890361502122 "undefined") of “WHISKEY” due to the impending storm, during which time commercial traffic and transfer operations are allowed to continue. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5358498/hurricane-hector-path/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5358498/hurricane-hector-path/"},"headline":"Hurricane Hector Is Barreling Towards Hawaii and Could Hit Near the Erupting Volcano","datePublished":"2018-08-06T13:06:38.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T18:21:10.000Z","description":"The Category 4 storm gained strength over the weekend","url":"https://time.com/5358498/hurricane-hector-path/","keywords":["weather","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec597150eabc333e/69893714929fada62ebf13f2/hector.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ciara Nugent","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec597150eabc333e/69893714929fada62ebf13f2/hector.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hector","caption":"Hurricane Hector is currently 1,130 miles southeast of Hawaii's Big Island","creditText":"The National Hurricane Center","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5358498/hurricane-hector-path/","name":"Hurricane Hector Is Barreling Towards Hawaii and Could Hit Near the Erupting Volcano"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Homes Destroyed, New Land Created as Lava Buries Hawaii's Vacationland","description":"A neighborhood called Vacationland on Hawaii’s Big Island had disappeared as lava poured into two oceanfront subdivisions, smothering hundreds of homes and filling an ocean bay, turning it into new land that now juts into the sea.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Xv3HpbAi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-06-07T09:48:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Xv3HpbAi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5358498/hurricane-hector-path/","duration":"PT35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5358498/hurricane-hector-path/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```