Hurricane Kenneth crossed into the central Pacific yesterday, but was rapidly weakening to a tropical storm and was expected to meet the same fate as Hurricane Jova last week.

At 5 p.m. yesterday Kenneth was about 1,040 miles east-southeast of Hilo, moving northwest at 3 mph. It had sustained winds of 75 mph with gusts of 92 mph.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said it would weaken as it enters an area with a stable marine environment. Kenneth was expected to be downgraded today to a tropical storm, with sustained winds of 69 mph.

Experts said Kenneth would continue to slow and be a tropical depression, with winds of 35 mph, by the time it passes roughly 300 miles to the east of the Big Island on Friday.

News coverage of Jova and other Pacific storms, as well as of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast, prompted many Hawai'i residents to stock up last week on bottled water and other emergency supplies.

For more on hurricane preparedness, go to www.hawaii redcross.org.

Off Mexico's Baja Peninsula, Tropical Storm Norma was moving west at 7 mph, with sustained winds of 46 mph. It was expected to weaken to a tropical depression by tomorrow.