Blustery conditions made for more than just a bad hair day yesterday.

A roof blew off a three-story Makiki building.

A coconut tree toppled onto a passing car in front of Iolani Palace.

 

Gusty Winds Whip Thru Islands

 

 

Winds were responsible for toppling a tree in downtown Honolulu, sending a man to the hospital and also peeling back part of a rooftop.

 

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  And stiff winds on Lanai—the highest in the state yesterday—whipped up a brush fire that burned an estimated 300 acres.

A high-wind advisory was in effect until 6 a.m. today for Lanai and Kohala on the Big Island. The winds are expected to die down today and tomorrow to 10 to 20 mph, becoming more easterly than the northeasterlies yesterday and Monday.

The strong northeast winds were expected to continue through last night. Small-craft advisories will still be in effect today.

Most of the islands had an estimated average of 25 mph sustained winds with higher gusts in excess of 30 mph, said lead forecaster Sam Houston of the National Weather Service.

Lanai topped the state with the highest wind speeds, peaking at 1:17 p.m. yesterday with 40 mph sustained winds with 50 mph gusts.

A strong pressure gradient north of the islands was responsible for the windy conditions, with higher pressure to the north and lower pressure to the south.

“;There's kind of a squeeze play between those two, and we're kind of caught in between,”; Houston explained.

Air from the high pressure flows down to the lower pressure, and the steeper the gradient, the faster the flow, he said.

Aside from the northeast winds and clouds, a cold air pattern also contributed to cooler weather.

Temperatures dipped to 64 degrees in Hilo and 37 degrees atop Haleakala yesterday afternoon.

The winds were destructive yesterday.

In Makiki, the wind peeled back a 4-by-12-foot section of roof of a building at 1232 Young St. at about 11 a.m. yesterday, Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig said.

This exposed a seam, causing water to leak into the third-floor apartment below, he said. Firefighters assisted by removing the loose roof material.

Meanwhile, roofers arrived to repair the roof, Seelig said.

One person was home at the time, but no one was injured.

Strong winds also brought down a coconut tree on King Street fronting Iolani Palace yesterday.

Police closed three lanes of traffic on King Street at about 1:17 p.m. until the car was towed away.

The lanes were reopened at 2:27 p.m.

This weekend may be wet, with heavy rains and flash flooding possible for all islands from Friday through the weekend, the National Weather Service said.