Tropical Storm Moke to cause more flooding as Hawaii recovers from Lala

This NOAA satellite image taken Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Moke advancing towards Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. NOAA/AP hide caption

A tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean will bring additional flooding and gusty winds to Hawaii as the state recovers from damage from last week's Hurricane Lala, according to forecasters.

Tropical Storm Moke is impacting the Big Island of Hawaii and will bring rain to other islands through Monday, according to an advisory by the NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center issued late Saturday night, local time.

"This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides for the windward and southeast Big Island, especially in deep terrain and over areas that were recently affected by Lala," the center said in the advisory.

The center of Tropical Storm Moke is not expected to make landfall and will pass to the south of the Hawaiian islands, but up to 15 inches of rain could fall across Big Island and 3 to 6 inches of rain are expected to fall on eastern Maui, the center also said .

Potential damage from Tropical Storm Moke is set to occur less than a week after Hurricane Lala battered the islands.

Hurricane Lala, now downgraded to a tropical storm and moving northwest across the Pacific Ocean away from Hawaii at a slower speed, did not make landfall either, but dropped more than 30 inches of rain on some parts of Hawaii in a short period of time.

That heavy rainfall triggered floods and mudslides that destroyed roads and bridges. Floodwaters swept through several towns, lifting homes from their foundations.