Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui experienced severe rainfall due to a Kona storm, that occurred a number of days ago. Rainfall estimates highlight over 15 inches of rainfall on three different islands, which led to flooding, and growth in pollution concerns, particularly southeast of Hilo on the Big Island. Here, officials issued a brown water advisory to caution that floodwater contained possibly deadly materials.
The state of Hawaii is in great need of water as 94 percent faces some form of drought, with 12 percent dealing with extreme drought. A similar storm produced a plowable snowfall on the Big Island mountains. This continued trend of extreme weather comes after a massive fire disaster on Maui that tragically led to nearly 100 fatalities and vast destruction.
Kona low storms, originating in the mid-latitudes that head deeper into the central tropical Pacific Ocean, often lead to intense rainfall in Hawaii. Some storms, like the recent one, can bring forth severe weather patterns. All this heavy rain could enhance the already existing atmospheric river pattern which should hit the western United States soon.
While rainfall data in the past 72 hours showed excessive rainfall in eastern parts of the Big Island, the place got comparatively less rainfall where the high terrain is situated. The concentrated rainfall led to subsequent flooding in the region. estavação geographically situated towards the southeast.
In conclusion, Hawaii is burdened with the detrimental impact of the Kona storm, with severe flooding being detrimental. Doppler radar and personal rain gauges estimated a wide disparity in rain totals across the area due to irregular and highly localized intensity, training downpours, and thunderstorm activities. The adverse weather situation led to two flash flood warnings being issued for the Big Island and several road closures on the island. The situation is likely to worsen before relief occurs.
