Tropical Storm Hilda continued to weaken yesterday and is not expected to have much of an effect on Hawai'i's weather.

At 5 p.m. yesterday, the center of Hilda was 545 miles southeast of Hilo, 750 miles southeast of Honolulu and 880 miles southeast of Ni'ihau. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

Hilda was moving toward the west-southwest at near 9 mph. The storm is not expected to reach hurricane strength and is forecast to pass far to the south of the Islands later this week.

A day earlier, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center predicted that Hilda could strengthen to a hurricane sometime in midweek. Although Hilda is expected to strengthen slightly in the next two or three days, the hurricane center said vertical shear is expected to weaken the storm and prevent it from reaching hurricane strength.

Meanwhile, riding on Hilda's coattails is Tropical Storm Ignacio, which was 765 miles west of the southern tip of Baja, Calif., at 5 p.m. yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

Ignacio is forecast to peter out as it reaches cooler water and not have an effect on the Islands.