Hurricane Guillermo forms in Pacific Ocean

August 14, 2009

Hurricane Guillermo formed in the Pacific Ocean on Friday. At At 08.00 PDT (14.00 UTC), it was approximately 1,900 kilometres west-southwest of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, moving westward at about 24 kilometres per hour.

The US National Hurricane Center upgraded the storm to a Category 1 hurricane at 23.00 on Thursday, after Guillermo sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.

The storm appears to be headed for Hawaii, and was 1,900 east of Hilo late on Thursday. However, the hurricane is predicted to weaken to a tropical depression by the time it reaches the islands.

"We need to watch this one," said Ed Teixeira, the state's Civil Defence vice director. "We have to be on our toes and watch developments. [...] if it's not Guillermo, it will be another storm system developing that could be a threat to the Hawaiian Islands. The forecasts still show this one [...] moving into cooler waters and then weakening."