Hurricane Barbara was pushing across the Pacific as a powerful Category 4 storm Wednesday, but it was very far from land. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph early Wednesday.

Barbara may have reached its peak intensity overnight, when its maximum sustained winds were 155 mph, just under the 157 mph threshold for a Category 5 storm. The storm was located about 1,925 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii, and was moving west-northwest at 10 mph.

It was about 1,255 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. The forecast track carries the storm roughly in the direction of Hawaii, but it's expected to dissipate over the weekend before reaching those longitudes.

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Gradual weakening was expected Wednesday followed by faster weakening Thursday and Friday. Barbara was forecast to weaken to a tropical storm Friday.