Hurricane Ana weakens but Hawaii remains vigilant

The storm spinning off the coast of Hawaii weakened slightly Saturday morning, but parks remain closed and tropical storm warnings are still in force in case the weather system makes landfall over the weekend.

The National Weather Service has designated Ana as a Category 1 hurricane, and said the storm was traveling northwest at 13 mph on Saturday morning

The storm, with sustained winds of up to 80 mph, was hovering 160 miles south of Kauai and 140 miles south of Niihau in the Hawaiian Islands as of 8:30 a.m. local time, according to a statement issued by the National Weather Service. Winds reached 85 mph earlier in the morning.

Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for Oahu, Kauai County and the island of Niihau, the agency said. A flash flood warning also remained in effect for the Big Island through 6 p.m. Saturday, and for all other islands through Sunday night, the agency said.

Although the storm had weakened, evacuation shelters will remain open on the Big Island and Oahu, and campgrounds in and around Honolulu will remain closed through Oct. 22, according to the Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency.

As the storm approached earlier this week, Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed an emergency proclamation that would give affected areas quick access to state and federal resources if the storm makes landfall.

The storm is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday, and should miss Oahu and Kauai counties, according to the National Weather Service.

“The chance for tropical storm conditions at this time is 11% at Honolulu, 16% at Lihue, and 25% at Niihau,” the agency said in a statement. “These values represent a downward trend since the last forecast.”

The storm is likely to produce a band of thunderstorms in Maui and the Big Island on Saturday morning, and Oahu and Kauai in the afternoon.

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for breaking news