The Latest on tropical weather systems (all times local):
4:40 p.m. HST
Hawaii Gov. David Ige is signing an emergency proclamation as two hurricanes hurtle toward the state.
Hawaii’s Big Island is under a hurricane warning as category 2 Madeline approaches. The National Weather Service says hurricane conditions are expected on the Big Island within 36 hours.
Ige is urging Big Island residents to take immediate steps to protect their families, loved ones, employees and property.
The state Department of Education says public schools will be closed Wednesday and Thursday. About a dozen schools are serving as emergency shelters. The University of Hawaii is closing its Big Island facilities Wednesday.
Big Island residents are stocking up on food and water.
Madeline was a category 3 hurricane earlier but the storm is losing strength.
A second Pacific hurricane called Lester is far from Hawaii.
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4 p.m. HST
The U.S. Coast Guard is asking crews of barges and ships to prepare to leave Hilo Harbor as a major hurricane hurtles toward Hawaii.
Captain Mike Long says ocean-going vessels should seek sheltered waters until storm conditions subside. He expects to close Hilo Harbor to all traffic by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Hawaii’s Big Island is under a hurricane warning as category 3 Madeline approaches. The National Weather Service warned that hurricane conditions are expected on the Big Island within the next 36 hours.
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1:50 p.m. HST
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is closing some areas at the end of the day as a major hurricane hurtles west toward Hawaii Island.
Park officials said Tuesday that the coastal lava viewing area will close by Wednesday morning.
Some camping areas are closing, but guests staying at Kilauea Military Camp and Volcano House may shelter in place.
The closures will remain in effect until the storms pass.
Hawaii’s Big Island is under a hurricane warning as category 3 Madeline approaches. The National Weather Service warned that hurricane conditions are expected on the Big Island within the next 36 hours.
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12 p.m. HST
Hawaii’s Big Island is under a hurricane warning as category 3 Madeline approaches.
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that hurricane conditions are expected on the Big Island within the next 36 hours. Forecasters are urging residents and visitors to rush through preparations to protect their lives and property.
Big Island resident Mitzi Bettencourt says she has boarded up windows in her brother’s oceanfront home. She says she and her neighbors are hoping their roofs stay intact and their houses don’t float away.
Neighbors are stocking up on food and water to prepare for power outages.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Oahu this week. The White House is tracking the weather developments closely, but it doesn’t anticipate changing Obama’s schedule.
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5 p.m. EDT
Forecasters have issued a hurricane watch for parts of Florida stretching from northwest of Tampa to an area east of Panama City.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued the watch for an area of the Gulf coast from the Anclote River to Indian Pass. An area to the west of Indian pass on the Panhandle is under a tropical storm watch.
The watches are related to a tropical depression churning in the Gulf about 345 miles (55 kilometers) west of Key West.
Forecasters say they expect the system to turn to the northeast toward Florida on Wednesday. It’s also expected to become a tropical storm by Wednesday.
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10:30 a.m. HST
Residents of Hawaii’s Big Island are bracing for what could be the first hurricane to make landfall in that state in decades.
Meteorologist Chevy Chevalier said Tuesday that Pacific hurricane Madeline, now a major Category 3 storm, is expected to weaken but likely to remain a hurricane as it passes the state.
The forecaster says Madeline is expected to pass just south of the Big Island early Thursday morning. But if the storm’s track shifts slightly to the north, it could hit land.
Chevalier says the last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which hit Kauai Island.
A second Pacific hurricane called Lester is still far from Hawaii. Lester is expected to be a tropical storm by the time it passes the state.
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2:30 p.m.
Federal regulators say offshore operators have temporarily evacuated workers from some oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico because of a tropical depression.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in Washington said in an emailed statement that personnel were taken off nine platforms by midday Tuesday, or from just a fraction of the 750 manned platforms in the Gulf. It adds workers also were evacuated from one rig and a total of seven rigs had been re-positioned away from the expected path of the storm.
The regulatory agency says its hurricane response team has been activated and is working with offshore operators and other agencies “until operations return to normal and the storm is no longer a threat to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities.”
The emailed statement didn’t say exactly how many workers were evacuated.
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5:15 a.m. HST
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center says a hurricane watch is in effect for the Big Island of Hawaii, warning major Hurricane Madeline could pass “dangerously close.”
At 5 a.m. HST (11 a.m. EDT) Tuesday, Madeline was a powerful Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph). The center adds that the storm is centered about 445 miles (715 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west at 10 mph (17 kph).
The Center’s advisory predicted the storm would pass near Hawaii’s Big Island Wednesday and Wednesday night and residents could experience hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and high surf. But it added that some weakening is forecast through late Wednesday.
Hawaii County, which covers the Big Island, urged residents to restock their emergency kits, create evacuation plans and secure outdoor furniture.
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11:10 a.m.
Forecasters say a tropical weather system off the North Carolina coast is expected to pass near the Outer Banks by the evening.
An 11 a.m. update on Tuesday from the National Hurricane Center says the tropical depression could become a named storm later in the day. Its center is also expected to pass near the North Carolina barrier islands in the afternoon or evening.
Top sustained winds were 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts, and the storm was centered about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of Cape Hatteras. A tropical storm warning is in effect for much of the Outer Banks.
In the Gulf of Mexico another tropical depression was about 340 miles (550 kilometers) west of Key West, Florida. Forecasters expect it to become a tropical storm later Tuesday and make a turn to the northeast toward Florida the next day.
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10:45 a.m.
A slow stream of cars is heading north on the main highway off Hatteras Island in North Carolina as crowds of visitors thin ahead of the approach of a tropical weather system.
Dozens of cars with tags from places including Maryland, New York and Ohio were seen headed Tuesday morning toward a bridge to the mainland. There was light, intermittent rain and mostly cloudy skies.
A tropical depression off the Atlantic Coast is expected to become a tropical storm and bring rain and wind to North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it passes by early Wednesday.
A public beach near Rodanthe was nearly empty, save for two parents enjoying the morning with their 11-year-old son. Joe and Kelley Walker of Virginia say they plan to stay through the weather and watch movies inside when it gets rainy.
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8:05 a.m.
A tropical depression that threatens the North Carolina coast has turned north-northwestward in the Atlantic.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the depression is expected to later curve north and then northeast on Wednesday. Its forecast track shows its center will be near North Carolina’s Outer Banks by Tuesday afternoon or evening.
The depression’s maximum sustained are near 35 mph (55 kph) and forecasters say it could become a tropical storm later in the day.
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5:20 a.m.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a hurricane hunter aircraft has been sent to investigate a tropical depression nearing the North Carolina coast.
The depression’s maximum sustained winds remain near 35 mph (55 kph) Tuesday morning but forecasters say it could become a tropical storm later in the day. The depression is centered about 95 miles (150 kilometers) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and is moving northwest near 6 mph (9 kph).
Meanwhile, another tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico could hit northern Florida as a tropical storm later in the week.
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3 a.m.
Officials say a potential tropical storm is already forming off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It’s expected to bring up to 45 mph winds and heavy rain that could flood low-lying areas.
The tropical depression was about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southeast of Cape Hatteras on Tuesday morning with top sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph). Officials say it’s expected to become a tropical storm in coming hours but not grow any stronger.
Beachgoers, boat captains and business owners warily waited for the storm to wash out one of the summer’s last busy weeks.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami also say another tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico could hit northern Florida as a tropical storm later in the week and possibly head toward the Atlantic coast.