Short-lived tornado hits Aiea

The event packed 40 to 70 mph winds, meteorologists say

A tornado touched down in Aiea Sunday, damaging trees and the roof of one house, National Weather Service officials said yesterday.

The tornado lasted several minutes, tore down three trees and damaged the rooftop of one house near the intersection of Kaonohi Street and Iho Place on Pearlridge. One of the downed trees crushed the cab of a pickup truck.

Residents at first thought the damage was caused by a funnel cloud, but local meteorologists said yesterday that it looked more like the aftermath of a brief tornado touchdown.

"We're strongly leading towards a small tornado ... about 40 to 70 mph," said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Nash.

"They can last for 30 seconds to two or three minutes, long enough to do some damage."

Residents said whatever it was it lasted about that long and was over as soon as it began.

"What I heard was the wind. All of a sudden it got very fast ... like a hurricane," said Iho Place resident Irv Miyamoto. "It started to build up, then got very strong."

Nash said Hawaii usually sees funnel clouds and water spouts, but few tornados touch down.

"We get about three or four a year," he said, but they do not always cause damage.

Sunday's tornado touched down as parts of Oahu were getting pummeled by heavy rain from thunderstorms moving across the island in the afternoon. There were no injuries reported, but a home in Kaneohe was flooded and power was temporarily knocked out to about 3,500 electricity customers.

The outlook for the rest of the week is better as tradewinds returned to the islands yesterday and are expected continue for the rest of the week, according to the weather service.