Tropical Storm Gil is expected to strengthen into a hurricane in the Pacific on Friday, Aug. 1, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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.

Tropical Storm Iona continued racing west across the Central Pacific early today while Tropical Storm Gil strengthened far to the east, with both systems posing no threat to Hawaii, forecasters said.