Hawaii under hurricane watch after tropical storm warning cancelled

A tropical storm warning for Madeline in Hawaii has been cancelled.

The storm has moved to the south of Hawaii's Big Island. However, the islands will feel the effects of strong winds.

The National Weather Service in Honoluluissued a wind advisory on Thursday.

Winds of 40to 56kilometres per hour, with gusts to 80 kilometres per hourcould occur across the island chain. The winds will bring the potential of blowing objects, power outages and downed tree branches.

Madeline was downgraded Wednesday,though it brought periods of intense rainfall.

Waves crashed into a seawall that surroundsLiliuokalaniGardens Park atHiloBay. Water accumulated on the grass of the gardens, leaving stairs of a pavilion partially submerged.

"That heavy rainfall is interspersed with sunny patches," saidKananiAton, spokeswoman for Hawaii County Civil Defence.

Lester approaches

Meanwhile, Hurricane Lester continues to track toward Hawaii. A hurricane watch has been issued for Maui County andHawaii County.

The storm is on a track to pass just north of the island chain and the eye of the storm isn't expected to make landfall. But meteorologist Ian Morrison from the National Weather Service says if the storm veers to the south, it could have a much greater impact.

Lester is expected to slowly weaken and remain a hurricane as it blows by the state. After it passes it's expected to further weaken to a tropical storm.

Morrison says the eastern part of the state could be hit with heavy rains and tropical storm or hurricane-force winds starting Friday night. He says all islands could be impacted as the storm passes.

On Wednesday, heavy rains hit parts of Hawaii and strong waves pummelled shorelines as thePacific storm passed near the island state.

Though tropicalstorm Madeline was no longer a hurricane, the weather's uncertainty couldn't let Hawaii's Big Island relax.

There were periods of intense rainfall Wednesday as the National Weather Service downgraded Madeline, with winds falling below hurricane strength of 119 km/h.

Wind speed diminished slowly throughout the day and by 8 p.m. local time, they were swirling at about 100 km/h. Forecasters said continued weakening was expected.

Madeline's centre was 281 kilometres south of Hilo and moving southwest and away from the state at 24 km/h not predicted to make landfall on any Hawaiian island. Still, the Big Island and Maui County were under tropical storm warnings.