HONOLULU (AP) — Iona strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane several hundred miles south-southeast of Hawaii, but poses no threat to the islands, forecasters said Tuesday. Iona is one of two major weather systems in the central Pacific Ocean.

Hurricane Iona, the first named storm of the Central Pacific season, quickly intensified overnight into a Category 1 hurricane far southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, while a new tropical depression also formed in the basin.

A hurricane that developed rapidly Monday in the central Pacific Ocean was not expected to cause any issues for Hawaii, a federal meteorologist said, as Hurricane Iona trekked west over warm, open waters.