Hurricane Guillermo maintained its strength as a Category 2 storm this afternoon, but forecasters said it is expected to gradually weaken beginning today as it continues to head toward the Islands.

At 5 p.m. today, Guillermo was about 1,700 miles east of Hilo and moving west-northwest at 16 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, which extended about 30 miles from Guillermo�s center.
Guillermo is forecast to enter the Central Pacific, commonly called �Hawaiian waters,� Sunday afternoon as a tropical storm and continue to weaken as it moves over cooler waters.
Jonathan Hoag, National Weather Service forecaster, said it�s still too early to predict if the storm will have any effect on the state�s weather. The National Hurricane Center�s five-day track has the storm to the northeast of the Big Island Tuesday afternoon as a tropical depression
�Weakening tropical systems still have potential for wind damage and localized heavy rains and flooding,� Hoag said. �But at present it�s too distant and too far away in time to be sure of what the specific effects would be. So all we do is generalize.�
Remnants of the former Hurricane Felicia passed by the islands this week and brought heavy rain to parts of Kaua�i and O�ahu. Hoag said similar rain would be welcome in other parts of the state.
�We might hope for rainfall from a weakening tropical system over the Big Island and Maui because they�re so short,� Hoag said of drought conditions in parts of those islands.