Gusts knock out power
to thousands on Oahu,
Kauai

A third weekend of rain will
be followed by a week of wind

It's raining. It must be a weekend.

For the third weekend in a row, Oahu and neighbor islands got a soaking from yet another front that swept across the state.

And while it is too early to forecast this weekend's weather, residents will have to brace for strong tradewinds throughout the workweek.

In Honolulu the returning tradewinds contributed to late-afternoon power failures in Kaimuki, Makiki, Nuuanu and Sand Island affecting nearly 4,200 customers. Kauai also reported minor power failures caused by the strong winds.

The blustery winds blew on Oahu, Kauai and Maui yesterday. Wind and rain are expected to continue through Thursday and slowly taper off thereafter, said Tim Craig, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

"It will be windy. We will be looking for tradewinds around 15 to 30 miles per hour," Craig said.

"The winds will be noticeable in all of the islands. This was essentially the tail end of the cold front," he said.

A small-craft advisory was issued for all islands at noon yesterday. Wind waves from 5 feet to 14 feet were expected on Kauai and Oahu channels.

The winds kept Hawaiian Electric crews busy yesterday. Spokesman Peter Rosegg said power to all areas was restored by early evening.

In Nuuanu, 575 customers went without power for less than an hour after wind might have pushed a tree into a power line on Old Pali Road. Some tree branches were discovered on the ground, Rosegg said.

Twenty more customers in the Sand Island area briefly went without power at 4:40 p.m. Electricity was restored 20 minutes later. Strong winds also contributed to a pine tree that fell across power lines in Waianae on Farrington Highway and Hakimo Road shortly after 1 p.m. No customers were affected, said Rosegg.

A few areas on Kauai experienced power failures yesterday morning. Shelley Paik, spokeswoman for the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, said customers in the Kalaheo area experienced a brief outage due to the winds.

Over the last two weekends, Oahu has experienced a pattern of heavy rains. On Halloween eve, floodwaters tore through Manoa valley, causing millions of dollars in damage to homes and the University of Hawaii campus.

A week later, heavy rains caused 5,000 gallons of waste water to spill into Kaelepulu Stream, temporarily closing Kailua Beach.