A major hurricane is churning in the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles away from Hawaii. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tuesday that Hurricane Iona is one of two major weather systems in the ocean but poses no threat to the islands.

Hurricane Iona was expected to move westward and does not pose any land threat to the Hawaiian Islands, forecasters said.

Hurricane Iona rapidly strengthened overnight into a Category 3 hurricane well south of the Hawaiian Islands and is expected to reach Category 4 intensity later today, forecasters said.