Flood advisory lifted for Kauai

ands of heavy rain moving over Kauai prompted a flood advisory for the Garden Island, but forecasters lifted it at about 8 p.m. as conditions dried out.

Forecasters say tropical moisture in the air brought in by former Tropical Storm Flossie is responsible for hot, humid and unstable conditions today that brought scattered showers, some heavy over the islands today. Forecasters say drier air is moving in as the trade winds push the moist air away.

The National Weather Service says we could get one more day of post-Flossie humidity until we return to the usual, cooler trade wind weather conditions.

At 2 p.m., what’s left of Flossie was about 225 miles northwest of Lihue, heading west-northwest at 15 mph. Flossie has been downgraded to a remnant low. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center has stopped issuing advisories on the storm.

A high surf advisory is in effect for the east-facing shores of Oahu and Kauai through 6 a.m. Wednesday, with waves of 5 to 8 feet expected from the declining wind swell. An earlier high surf warning has been canceled.

The Hawaii Red Cross closed its storm shelters this morning. The Red Cross sheltered 45 people on Maui in four locations and 132 people on Oahu in seven locations overnight.

Flooding has closed the Kalepa Bridge at mile marker 38.5 on the Hana Highway, Maui County said this morning. The road is open to local residents only.

Flossie dropped most of its rain over Maui, where lightning storms knocked out power to thousands. Maui Electric crews worked through the  night to restore power to about 4,500 customers who were still without electricity at 9:45 p.m. in parts of Wailuku, and Waiehu to Kahakuloa. Small pockets of customers in Kahului, Haiku and Kula were also affected, 

About 900 customers in Hana were without power overnight, when the storm damaged power lines.

Lightning on Maui sent a Haiku man to the hospital in stable condition when he was struck by a bolt. A home owner in Kahului will be looking to repair a 10-inch hole in his roof and a five-inch hole in the 2-story home’s gable after lightning struck the house at 640 Kipapa Place. A resident was home at the time of the lightning strike, but was uninjured.

The lightning storm appeared to be heading to Oahu at about 8:30 p.m., but radar showed it died out before reaching shore.

Flossie approached the islands as a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph over the weekend, but quickly broke apart Monday as wind shear and dry air zapped Flossie of its power as it approached the Big Island and Maui.

Forecasters had feared up to 15 inches of rain in isolated windward areas, but Flossie, which brought rains of  3 to 4 inches an hour,  moved quickly over the islands and didn’t stay too long over any one place.

The Kaupo Gap in East Maui got the most rain in the state with 5.3 inches falling in the 24-hour period ending at 2 a.m. Puu Kukui in the West Maui Mountains got 4.3 inches and Ulupalakua recorded 3.6 inches.

Puu Alii in the northeast side of Molokai got nearly 3.8 inches.

Kawainui Stream near Kamuela on the Big Island received 2.5 inches, 1.5 inches was recored in Honokaa, and 2.2 inches fell at Kahua Ranch in North Kohala.

On Oahu, 2.6 inches fell on the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Reserve in the northern Koolau mountains, Upper Nuuanu got 1.3 inches and the Lyon Aboretum in Manoa saw 1.2 inches of rain.

The Kilohana rain gage on Kauai recorded 3.9 inches, while 3 inches fell on Mt. Waialeale, and a little less than 1.2 inches fell in Wainiha.