Sunnier days are forecast as weather systems shift
Tradewind weather should return to the islands this week as the systems that spawned heavy rain over the weekend move away, weather forecasts say.
Lots of water
Here are rainfall totals, in inches, for the 48-hour period that ended at 8 a.m. yesterday.
Kauai
|
» Mount Waialeale |
14.93
|
» Hanalei River |
9.10 |
Oahu
|
» Upper Nuuanu |
12.22
|
» Mililani |
8.57 |
Source: National Weather Service
|
There will be some showers, but mostly over windward and mauka areas with some isolated showers over leeward areas in the afternoon and evenings.
A combination of moisture associated with the remnants of Hurricane Kenneth and an upper-level low north of Kauai caused heavy downpours on Oahu and Kauai on Friday and Saturday.
"The upper-level low is still lingering. We are expecting a gradual improvement," said Tom Birchard, forecaster with the National Weather Service.
The weather event dumped nearly 15 inches of rain on Mount Waialeale on Kauai in the 48 hours that ended at 8 a.m. yesterday.
More than 12 inches fell in Nuuanu during the same period, while nearly 9 inches fell in Mililani.
Residents in Mililani reported small hail coupled with strong thunderstorms Saturday night.
Oahu and Kauai received the brunt of the heavy rain Saturday.
Ninety-five people were evacuated from Otake Camp in Waialua after water in the Wahiawa reservoir reached a critical level, threatening to send floodwaters downstream. At about 10 p.m., officials with Oahu Civil Defense, with the help of firefighters, began the evacuations.
A shelter was opened at the Waialua High School cafeteria.
Thirty residents decided to stay in their homes, according to Sgt. Eric Brown of the Wahiawa Police Station.
Residents were allowed to return to the camp at 6 a.m. yesterday after the water level in a stream that runs near the camp had dropped.
Capt. Emmit Kane, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department, said firefighters responded to 17 incidents Saturday relating to the heavy rainfall, mainly in Mililani and Nuuanu.
Most of the calls occurred between 9 and 11:30 p.m., Kane said. Firefighters responded to 13 incidents during that 2 1/2-hour period. Five calls were from Mililani and six calls were from Nuuanu.
There were a couple of calls from people reporting rising water in culverts and some from people reporting flooding in their yards, but no major incidents, Kane said.
At about 10:45 p.m., firefighters rescued a man and a woman, both described as homeless, from under a bridge near Richard Lane because of rising water in Kalihi Stream.
On Kauai, water swept over Awawa Road in Hanapepe on the west side. Officials also closed Hanalei Bridge on the north side sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. due to the rising water level in the Hanalei River. The bridge reopened yesterday morning after the water level subsided.
The weather service canceled a flash flood watch for Oahu, Kauai and Niihau at 6 p.m. yesterday.
This was the second straight weekend that moisture from a tropical storm interacted with an upper-level low-pressure system north of the state, generating heavy rain.
During the weekend of Sept. 23-25, heavy rain from what was Hurricane Jova caused flooding, road closures and the cancellation of at least one high school football game on Oahu.
This past weekend's heavy rain also caused flooding and the cancellation of all Big Island high school sporting events.
Kenneth and Jova formed in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico and are the only two named storm systems to move into the Central Pacific region this hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30.
On another front, a large south swell with wave faces up to 8 feet was predicted to reach the islands by tomorrow night, Birchard said.