A field crew from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources was flying above the Waimea Canyon in Kauai, Hawaii when they spotted a round rainbow. (Credit: DLNR/Twitter)
HONOLULU — A powerful weather system is drenching the Hawaiian Islands Friday, triggering flash flooding alerts across the state and even a Winter Storm Warning — yes, that’s not a typo — for the mountain summits along the Big Island.
A potent upper low pressure center is swirling just to the north of the island, providing copious amounts of tropical moisture along with atmospheric instability that is producing strong thunderstorms that may even reach severe criteria with 50 mph wind gusts and large hail.
“Once a shower or thunderstorm develops, it’ll be capable of producing strong wind gusts right along just before and right after that heavy shower,” National Weather Service, Honolulu Meteorologist Derek Wroe told KHON-TV. “You can see wind gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour with a shower which is concerning since we know we have a lot of graduation activities going on.”
HOW OFTEN DO TROPICAL SYSTEMS IMPACT THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS?
The greatest threat for severe storms is on the smaller islands on Friday, spreading east into the Big Island Friday night, NWS Honolulu said.
But aside from frequent lightning and gusty winds, torrential rains with some storms’ rain rates up to 3 inches per hour will present an islands-wide flash flood threat. Already 2-3 inches of rain fell across the windward sides of Oahu on Thursday night with more on the way as rain spreads across the rest of the state on Friday.
(FOX Weather)
Flood Watches cover all the islands through late Friday night, though the heaviest rains are expected Friday through Friday evening. Flood-prone roads and other low-lying areas are under threat to close due to runoff and overflowing streams. Rapid runoff could also cause property damage in urban areas.
A Winter Storm Warning in Hawaii in mid-May
Perhaps even more surprising is the wintry weather heading for the higher elevations of the Big Island.
AMONG SUREST WEATHER BET IN AMERICA: PREDICT RAIN IN THIS HAWAII TOWN IN JULY
Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for all mountain summits into Saturday morning. As much as 6 inches of snow is likely along with blistering winds of 40-60 mph with gusts over 70 mph, the NWS said.
(FOX Weather)
The storms will gradually abate from west to east late Friday into Saturday and then taper off all areas as the storm weakens and moves off to the northeast.
However, a moist pattern will remain into the new week with long range models suggesting another period of stormy weather looming later in the week.