Hurricane Iona rapidly strengthened overnight into a Category 3 hurricane well south of the Hawaiian Islands and is expected to reach Category 4 intensity later today, forecasters said.

Hurricane Iona continues to gain strength well south of Hawaii. It poses no immediate threat, but forecasters are monitoring closely.

Two tropical cyclones were swirling across the ocean southeast of Hawaii after developing on Monday but were not expected to cause any issues for the islands. Hurricane Iona is the first named storm of the hurricane season in the central Pacific and emerged Sunday from a tropical depression to become a Category 1 hurricane in