A major hurricane was churning across the Pacific Ocean but was several hundred miles south-southeast of Hawaii and posed no threat to the islands, forecasters said Tuesday. Hurricane Iona is one of two major weather systems in the central Pacific Ocean.

Hurricane Iona was expected to move westward and does not pose any land threat to the Hawaiian Islands, forecasters said.

Andrew Austin-Adler, a student meteorologist specializing in tropical cyclones, said on X: "Strongest CPAC hurricane since WALAKA is inbound. Iona is on the fast track to reaching major hurricane strength - official forecast is 120mph which could be conservative."