Hawaii Remains Under Severe Weather Threat as Two Feet of Rain Slam the Islands

There are very few places in the country that have gone untouched by this stretch of wacky March weather. As the central and eastern U.S. grapple with blizzard conditions and thunderstorms, the Hawaiian islands are being battered by a powerful Kona Low. Here is the latest on the emergency situation developing in Hawaii.

Powerful Storm Brings Vacations and Life to a Halt in Hawaii

Hawaii has turned from a vacation paradise into a mess of rain, wind, sinkholes, mudslides, and rare snow over the last few days. A potent Kona storm has triggered several road closures, flooding, landslides, and power outages. The higher terrains of the Big Island have even seen blizzard conditions as the storm continues to batter the island chain.

The Kona Low has caused widespread property damage due to the severity of the impacts. The city and county of Honolulu created an online form for residents to report damage to their homes in an effort to streamline the confirmation process. Local officials are also asking residents and tourists to shelter in place during times of peak storm activity. The high winds are bringing down trees, putting human lives at risk.

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park has also been closed due to the dangerous weather.

The Kona Low first began to impact the islands on Tuesday. Since that time, the Aloha State has been under the gun for persistent drenching rainfall and thunderstorms. The threat of hazardous conditions will continue until Tuesday.

The island of Maui has been hit particularly hard by the deep plume of tropical moisture. Some areas of this island have already recorded over two feet of rain. For instance, several locations on Maui notched over 20 inches of rain on Friday and Saturday alone. Rain totals topped 44 inches at Kula on Maui by Monday.  Puuwaawaa on the Big Island has recorded over 38 inches as of this time.

Rain of this magnitude has inevitably caused widespread flash flooding, including damage to a Target retail store on Maui. Flash flood watches will remain in place for most of the Aloha State through Monday. The bulk of the region will see additional rain of 5 to 8 inches to start the new work week.

High levels of atmospheric moisture are fueling heavy rain and snow. The southerly flow of winds is amplifying this flow of moisture across the islands.

Volatile winds have been another impact associated with this weather maker. The top elevations of the Big Island and Maui were put under high wind warnings as gusts hit speeds of 135 mph. The rest of the islands saw winds reach up to 70 mph at times.

The high winds brought down trees and power lines, leaving thousands without power across the islands. There were over 100,000 customers in the dark during the peak of the outages on Saturday. The bulk of these outages were in Honolulu County. Power is slowly being restored as the ongoing storm has hampered crews. Roughly half the outages had been restored by early Monday.

This dynamic Kona Low also unleashed blizzard conditions across the summits of the Big Island. While the worst of the blizzard is now over, winter storm warnings were in place through Saturday as snow totals reached up to 20 inches.

A Kona Low is described by the National Weather Service (NWS) as a subtropical low. This type of system is a hybrid storm that carries characteristics of both a winter storm and a tropical cyclone. Because Kona Lows form at low latitudes, they are able to tap into the ample moisture originating in the tropics to serve as fuel.