WEATHER UPDATE: Kona storm to bring major wind and rainfall impacts to the islands this week
Updates
As of 2:30 PM HST on Saturday:
- A powerful kona storm continues to bring periods of hazardous weather to the islands.
- The worst impacts from heavy rain, strong winds, and thunderstorms will gradually subside on Sunday.
- The threat of flash flooding will linger into early next week due to oversaturation of the soil.
Forecast synopsis
From the National Weather Service office in Honolulu:
A powerful kona storm will remain anchored northwest of the state producing periods of hazardous weather impacts across the Hawaiian Islands through the weekend. Expect a combination of threats ranging from significant flash flooding, damaging winds, strong to severe thunderstorms, and snow and ice over the highest Big Island summits. Strong southwesterly winds will hold today produce damaging wind gusts. The highest threats for damaging winds remain along north and east slopes of island mountains. Unsettled wet weather continues with decreasing southwesterly wind trends from Sunday into next week. This kona storm begins to lift northeastward from Sunday to Monday, heavy rain and strong winds will decrease as severe weather conditions start to ease across the Hawaii region. However, periods of unsettled wet weather in a light and variable low level wind pattern will continue across the state into next weekend.
Weather risk outlook
As of 3:00 PM HST on Friday:
| Island | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kauaʻi | 2 | · | · | · | · |
| Oʻahu | 3 | 2 | · | · | · |
| Maui | 3 | 3 | 2 | · | · |
| Hawaiʻi | 4 | 3 | 2 | · | · |
Key: · - little to none; 1 - minor; 2 - moderate; 3 - major; 4 - extreme
Preliminary rainfall totals
From 12AM Tuesday to 3PM Saturday:
| Location | Total |
|---|---|
| Wahiawa | 18.88 inches |
| Waialua | 14.89 inches |
| Kihei | 13.97 inches |
| Kahului | 13.25 inches |
| Kaneohe | 11.36 inches |
| Molokai | 10.96 inches |
| Honolulu | 9.79 inches |
| Waianae | 8.53 inches |
| Kapolei | 8.21 inches |
| Lihue | 7.98 inches |
| Lanai City | 6.28 inches |
| Laie | 5.69 inches |
| Kailua-Kona | 2.43 inches |
| Hilo | 1.98 inches |
| Princeville | 0.55 inches |
More information
For more information on the impacts of this system as it develops, please check out these links:
National Weather Service
- NWS Honolulu homepage
- NWS Honolulu Area Forecast Discussion
- NWS Honolulu on Facebook
- NWS Honolulu on X
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
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