Hurricane watch for Hawaii Island; nor'easter floods the East Coast

THE EMN NEWS DAILY BRIEF | Thursday, 24 September 2026

Tropical Storm Nolo formed south of Hawaii on Wednesday, and a hurricane watch is in effect for Hawaii County, with a flood watch covering the Big Island and Maui County through Saturday evening. Forecast rainfall is 15 to 20 inches on Hawaii Island, with isolated totals to 35 inches, on ground already damaged by Hurricane Lala in August. A strengthening nor’easter is driving coastal flooding and gale-force marine winds from North Carolina to southern New England, with a wind advisory posted for the Atlantic coasts of New Jersey and Delaware through Friday evening. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency Tuesday for 19 counties hit by flooding. The national preparedness level holds at 2 with 87 incidents and 8,523 personnel, down 1,178 in a day. Year-to-date acreage was revised down to 8,096,338, or 137 percent of average, from 146 percent. The EMN NEWS Daily Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Hawaii: Nolo was centered about 285 miles south of South Point late Wednesday with 50-mile-per-hour winds, crawling north at 2 miles per hour. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasts hurricane strength by Thursday night and possibly a major hurricane by the weekend, with the closest approach to the Big Island Friday into Saturday. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours.

Hawaii impacts: The state emergency management agency forecasts widespread totals of 15 to 20 inches on Hawaii Island, with isolated totals of 35 inches in the southeast; catastrophic flooding is possible Friday and Saturday, with life-threatening landslides in steep terrain. Maui could see 5 to 10 inches, with isolated totals of 20. Molokai, Lanai and Oahu could see up to 4 inches and Kauai up to 2. Peak storm surge of 1 to 3 feet above ground is possible on Hawaii Island at high tide.

Nor’easter: The Mount Holly forecast office reports persistent northeast winds through at least Friday, sustained 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts to 50 on the New Jersey and Delaware Atlantic coasts, inland gusts to 35, gale-force winds across all coastal waters, and seas of 8 to 15 feet. A coastal flood advisory runs through tonight and a wind advisory through 6 p.m. Friday. The storm coincides with the full moon this weekend, which raises tide levels through successive cycles.

Ohio: The state of emergency signed September 22 covers Athens, Clermont, Gallia, Greene, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Meigs, Mercer, Montgomery, Morgan, Muskingum, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Preble, Ross, Van Wert and Vinton counties. The proclamation directs state departments to provide services, equipment, supplies and personnel for cleanup.

Wildfire posture: Preparedness Level 2 with 87 incidents, 30 uncontained large fires, 1,824,164 acres and 8,523 personnel, a drop of 1,178, per the Wednesday situation report. Initial attack was light, with 93 fires, one new large incident and six complex teams committed. The Northwest dropped to Preparedness Level 2.

Acreage revision: Year-to-date acres fell from 8,554,955 to 8,096,338 in one reporting cycle, moving the season from 146 to 137 percent of the ten-year average. The change is a mapping and reporting adjustment, concentrated in Northwest Bureau of Land Management acres, not a correction to any single fire.

Northwest: Thirteen uncontained large fires and 4,290 personnel, down 366, with no new fires. Wednesday’s report lists only area, road and trail closures on Three Queens, without the evacuations carried Monday and Tuesday. Sisi near Stehekin added 85 acres at 15 percent contained, with residences and energy infrastructure threatened.

California: Northern California released 701 people in a day. Floriston near Truckee reached 96 percent contained, and Chileno in Marin County 85 percent. Dome in Yosemite National Park grew 263 acres to 3,683, holds at 15 percent contained, and carries 840 personnel and $8.4 million in costs.

Southwest: Deep tropical moisture continues over eastern Arizona, New Mexico and southern Colorado with widespread showers and scattered thunderstorms. Predictive Services expects flooding near and east of the New Mexico central mountains today.

Fire weather: Above-normal temperatures continue from the southern Plains to the lower Mississippi Valley, less extreme than recent weeks, with humidity near 30 percent in northeast Texas. A weak cold front brings scattered showers and thunderstorms to the northern Plains.

Federal assistance: SBA physical damage deadlines for the September 1 public assistance declarations close November 1 in Colorado and South Dakota and November 2 in Missouri and Texas. Economic injury applications stay open to June 1, 2027.

Cyber: No Known Exploited Vulnerabilities additions were located after Monday’s Zyxel GS1900 switch entry, CVE-2026-7273. The most recent industrial control system batch remains the eight advisories of September 17.

SOURCES

Wildfire, national

NICC Incident Management Situation Report and Predictive Services discussion: Wednesday, Sept 23, 2026, 0730 MDT (live PDF, overwritten daily)

https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/sitreprt.pdf

IMSR archive

https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/incident-information/imsr

Hawaii

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Tropical Storm Nolo updates: key messages and recommended actions, Sept 23

https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/tropical-storm-nolo-updates/

Hawaii News Now: hurricane watch for Hawaii County, flood watch through 6 p.m. Saturday, CPHC 8 p.m. HST position, Sept 24

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/09/24/tropical-storm-nolo-holds-expected-turn-northward-hawaii-county-under-hurricane-watch/

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: CPHC forecast track and intensity, Sept 24

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/09/23/breaking-news/tropical-depression-may-grow-into-major-hurricane-near-hawaii-island/

CBS News: Nolo forms, Big Island under hurricane watch, Sept 24

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/storm-nolo-hurricane-hawaii/

East Coast

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly briefing: coastal flood advisory, wind advisory, marine conditions, 6:30 AM EDT Sept 24 (live PDF)

https://www.weather.gov/media/phi/current_briefing.pdf

The Weather Channel: nor’easter timeline from North Carolina to New England, Sept 24

https://weather.com/2026/09/24/forecast/regional/noreaster-forecast-coastal-flooding-rain-wind-boston-mid-atlantic

AccuWeather: full moon tide amplification and New England wind threat, updated Sept 24

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/noreaster-to-bring-major-coastal-flooding-hurricane-force-gusts-in-new-england/1937400

Ohio

Office of Governor Mike DeWine: state of emergency for 19 counties, signed Sept 22

https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/governor-dewine-declares-state-of-emergency-for-several-ohio-counties

CISA

CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog: CVE-2026-7273, Sept 21; no later additions located in this sweep

https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2026/09/21/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog

CISA Releases Eight Industrial Control Systems Advisories: ICSA-26-260-01 through 07, Sept 17

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCISA/bulletins/42b3c27

Federal assistance

Federal Register: SBA notice, Texas, FEMA-4935-DR amendment, published Sept 14

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/14/2026-18756/presidential-declaration-amendment-of-a-major-disaster-for-public-assistance-only-for-the-state-of

Washington, California, New Mexico and Colorado

NICC situation report: Three Queens, Sisi, Dome, Floriston, Chileno and the Predictive Services discussion, Sept 23