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All islands under flash flood watch; Kauai getting an inch of rain an hour


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POSTED: Wednesday, April 07, 2010

A flash flood warning for Oahu has been lifted this morning, but the entire state is under a flood watch, the National Weather Service said today.

Kauai is also under a flood advisory until 4:30 p.m. today. Rain is falling at an inch an hour at several gages, the weather service said.

“;At 12:40 p.m., a spotter reported heavy rain in Wailua. Radar   and rain gages are also continuing to indicate heavy rain   occurring across the island of Kauai this afternoon,”; forecasters said today.

The flash flood watch for the state lasts through tomorrow morning. A watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding. 

“;A trough aloft will keep the atmosphere unstable through early Thursday morning and there is abundant low-level moisture,”; forecasters said this morning. “;Locally heavy rainfall may develop as the islands heat up today and heavy rainfall could persist through early Thursday morning.”;

After a night of heavy rains over the Koolaus, the weather service dropped the warning for Oahu at about 8 a.m. today.

At 5:45 a.m., rainfall totals for the previous 24 hours saw 9.57 inches at Wilson Tunnel, 5.32 inches in upper Nuuanu, 3.88 inches in Maunawili and 2.94 inches in Waiawa.

The rain was mainly concentrated along the Koolaus, however. Honolulu Airport received less than half an inch of rain over the 24-hour period, according to the weather service. The rest of the state was also mostly dry.

Today's forecast for Honolulu calls for sunny skies in the morning, followed by scattered showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms, with locally heavy rainfall possible, forecasters said.