Hawaii hurricane warning lowered as storm eases

HILO, Hawaii -- The National Weather Service has downgraded a previously issued hurricane warning for Hawaii's Big Island.

The alert regarding Hurricane Madeline was dropped Wednesday to a tropical storm warning.

There's also a warning for Maui County over the next 24 hours.

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Madeline was downgraded to the lowest hurricane level early Wednesday and is expected to weaken even more to a tropical storm as it passes to the south of the Big Island.

The eye of the storm is about 95 miles southeast of Hilo with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.

Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Ed Teixeira says surf is building, and the waves outside Hilo Harbor were about 12 feet high,

Meanwhile, Hurricane Lester was about 1,000 miles from Hawaii and expected to drop to a tropical storm by Sunday.

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