Hurricane Neki continued to strengthen yesterday and was tracking toward the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

At 5 p.m. yesterday, Neki was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph with higher gusts. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu forecast that the storm will continue to intensify over the next two days.

Earlier yesterday, Johnston Island was under a hurricane watch as Neki approached the island. But at 5 p.m., the storm was 295 miles east-southeast of Johnston and headed northwest, so forecasters downgraded the watch to a tropical storm watch.

Neki was 625 miles southwest of Honolulu and posed no threat to the main Hawaiian Islands.

Jim Weyman, director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, said forecasters are keeping a close watch on the storm as it heads toward the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, also known as the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

"We continue to talk about the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands because they could still get some of the impacts, especially maybe high surf in that area from the system as it continues to move to the northwest," Weyman said.

The monument is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Barbara Maxfield, Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman, said there are seven people stationed on Laysan Island, several on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals, and between 60 and 70 on Midway Island. She said aircraft would be able to evacuate the workers from Midway and Tern if needed, but the only way out of Laysan is by ship.

"The last map we saw looked like it was heading straight for Laysan Island," Maxfield said of Hurricane Neki. "So we are keeping a close eye on where it's headed over the next few days and looking at some options as to what we can do to make sure those people are all safe."

She said there is a NOAA vessel in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands area that could be called on to evacuate the workers. Maxfield also said a hurricane shelter was built on Laysan Island several years ago, but that hasn't been tested by a hurricane.