Although motorists saw it
on their windshields, officials
say heavy rain did not dent
Oahu's long-term drought
Heavy rains that flooded some roadways and clogged traffic for hours yesterday will not relieve Oahu's long-term drought, a city water official said.
But the wet weather, expected to continue in pockets around the island today, could reduce the amount of water that consumers use over the next few days by lessening their need for irrigation, said Donna Kiyosaki, Honolulu Board of Water Supply deputy manager.
"It probably is helping, and hopefully (we'll) see our consumption drop," Kiyosaki said.
The downpour was much needed, she said, coming just a week after dry weather in parts of Oahu spurred a 3 million gallon-a-day increase in overall average water usage.
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Downpours left deep water on the eastbound right lane of Kapiolani Boulevard yesterday. This pedestrian got soaked when the driver of a BMW SUV failed to take it slow and sent water flying.
Meteorologist Hans Rosendal, of the National Weather Service's Honolulu forecast office, said the rain could be a signal of similar wet, autumnlike weather soon.
The heavy showers, which flooded parts of Kamehameha Highway during early morning commute hours, were caused by moist, unstable air Wednesday night over much of the western end of the island chain, he said.
Fourteen inches of rain fell at Wilson Tunnel during the 24-hour period that ended at 2 p.m. yesterday, while about 7 inches fell in both Nuuanu and near Ahuimanu Loop. Areas along the Koolau Mountains had 2 to 3 inches of rain an hour Wednesday night, Rosendal said.
The rains prompted officials to issue an urban and small-stream flood advisory for Oahu early yesterday morning. The weather system's warm, sticky conditions also caused a funnel cloud near Wahiawa yesterday afternoon, he said.
The cloud, which never touched ground, was spotted by a Wahiawa police officer and reported to the weather service.
Motorists were also asked to avoid low-lying and poor-drainage areas.
Police closed Kamehameha Highway at Waikane Valley Road from about 6 to 7:30 a.m. after Kahuku police said water was 1 1/2 feet deep or more across the highway in the Waiahole area, said Oahu Civil Defense Administrator Doug Aton.
Lee Totten dodged yesterday morning's Windward traffic jam by stopping at Times Coffee Shop in Kaneohe for an hour "and just kind of waiting." The owner of Ponamei Tropical Flowers and Arrangements was late for a drop-off, but her client understood.
Hundreds of other commuters coming into town from the North Shore, Windward Oahu and elsewhere were not as lucky.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A sudden downpour created big puddles that made it difficult to cross some downtown streets yesterday. Here, Peter Labane held onto a street post to make it across the body of water that collected at the intersection of King and Iwilei streets.
The city's Traffic Management Center reported extra-slow traffic on Pali and Kalanianaole highways. Other main routes into town were also clogged.
Sporadic showers were expected to return this afternoon along with cooler temperatures, Rosendal said.
Aton said his agency will continue to monitor rainfall and possible flooding conditions today.
Meanwhile, Board of Water Supply statistics show usage in the Waialua-Kahuku, Ewa-Waianae and Pearl Harbor water districts increased during the week of Sept. 4-10. The largest increase came from Pearl Harbor, where consumers used 2.24 million gallons per day more than the previous week.
Prompted by low well levels at key Oahu aquifers, the board asked consumers on Aug. 3 to voluntarily restrict their irrigation and lawn and landscape watering to Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
The board had hoped to decrease water usage by 10 percent from early August levels, but so far has only reached the 5 percent mark. Despite the recent increase, water usage was still lower last week than usage amounts recorded at the same time last year.
In hopes of stemming further increases, the Board of Water Supply will step up community education efforts, Kiyosaki said.
That includes talking about water conservation to residents who have been reported to be excessively watering, and asking restaurants to serve water to customers only on request, she said.
