Hawaii - Tornadoes, hail, and flash flooding this past week!

[jinftl]

Tornado and hail in Hawaii...and check out some of the 7-day rain totals below....almost 4 feet in some locales!!!

According to NWS Honolulu, the reporting station at Lihue averages 37.05" of rain annually. Since Jan. 1, Lihue has seen 30.75", with the bulk of that falling in the last 2 weeks!!! 7 Daily Rainfall Records have been set in the past 14 days, including this one:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
305 AM HST TUE MAR 6 2012

...RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM RAINFALL SET AT LIHUE HI...

A RECORD RAINFALL OF 8.64 INCHES WAS SET AT LIHUE HI YESTERDAY.
THIS OBLITERATES THE OLD RECORD OF 1.14 INCHES...SET IN 1974.



From Dr. Jeff Master's blog:

"A waterspout made landfall on the Hawaiian island of Oahu Friday morning on the east shore town, becoming a rare Hawaiian tornado as it moved through the towns of Lanikai and Kailua. The twister, rated an EF-0 with winds of 60 - 70 mph, tore holes in roofs and downed trees along a 1 1/2 mile long, 20-yard wide path of damage. No injuries were reported. The same storm also brought golf ball sized hail raining down for about 45 minutes on Oahu. The islands have seen intense rains over the past week, thanks to a 1040 mb blocking high pressure system near 40°N, to the NNW of the island that forced a companion cutoff low near 25°N 165°W to stay put, bringing a series of heavy storms to the islands. Rainfall amounts over the past week have exceeded three feet in some locations. The resulting flooding forced the governor on Wednesday to declare two islands, Oahu and Kauai, disaster areas. The latest forecasts for Kauai and Oahu call for sporadic rains to continue over the weekend, followed by a drying trend during the coming week. "
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=2048

Here are some select rainfall amounts over the past week, from the National Weather Service:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1155 AM HST FRI MAR 9 2012

...TORRENTIAL RAINS SLAM HAWAII IN THE PAST WEEK...

A SLOW MOVING FRONT BROUGHT HEAVY RAIN TO MOST ISLANDS THE PAST WEEK...AS IT INTERACTED WITH SEVERAL DISTURBANCES ALOFT.

THE FOLLOWING REPRESENTS 7-DAY RAINFALL TOTALS...FROM 11 AM FRIDAY MARCH
2 THROUGH 11 AM FRIDAY MARCH 9.

KAUAI
HANALEI 45.97
WAINIHA POWER HOUSE 43.84
KAPAHI 32.66
MOUNT WAIALEALE RAINGAGE 31.32
LIHUE AIRPORT 13.59

OAHU
OAHU FOREST NWR 39.65
MOANALUA - USGS - USGS 36.42
PUNALUU STREAM - USGS 31.46
WILSON TUNNEL 25.05
LULUKU 22.25
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER 20.47
HONOLULU AIRPORT 4.54

MOLOKAI
MOLOKAI AIRPORT 2.74

MAUI
PUU KUKUI - USGS 16.70
KAHULUI AIRPORT 2.34

HAWAII
HILO AIRPORT 5.97