HONOLULU - Hurricane Kiko, which has rapidly intensified into a Category 4 cyclone over the open Pacific, continues to march westward, which will put the storm near the Hawaiian Islands next week but in a much weakened state.

As of Thursday, Kiko was still over 1,200 miles east-southeast of Hawaii and expected to commence a significant weakening process over the weekend.

Due to error rates associated with forecasting hurricanes, the Big Island did fall underneath the five-day forecast cone, but meteorologists caution that Kiko will be a completely different storm when it approaches the islands.

Several factors, including cool sea surface temperatures, hostile upper-level winds and dry air, will in essence act as a barrier between the hurricane and the islands, only resulting in limited

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