Weaker storm whips up surf

A weakened Hurricane Lester continued passing north of the state Saturday, bringing dangerously high surf for east-facing shores, the possibility of heavy showers over Kauai and Oahu, and muggy weather likely until Labor Day.

“The primary concern right now is the surf impact on the east and northeast shores,” said Kevin Kodama of the National Weather Service in Honolulu. Surf at Makapuu was reported to be 10 to 15 feet in the early afternoon.

The city Emergency Services Department reported 10 rescues and 500 preventive actions at Sandy Beach alone, with another 200 preventive actions at Makapuu.

The weather service issued a high-surf warning for east-facing shores from Maui to Kauai until 6 a.m. today. The east shores of Hawaii island were under a high-surf advisory until midnight.

Kodama said locally heavy rain could follow the back end of Lester into today as the Category 1 storm passes north of the state. But the showers will move along without major impacts, unlike the “Darby-type” rains that flooded streams and major thoroughfares in Honolulu in July.

He said the islands were on the calmer side of Lester, which was about 130 miles northeast of Honolulu at 5 p.m., and lighter winds were expected.

The counterclockwise- spinning storm, however, was expected to block easterly tradewinds, creating muggy conditions over the islands.

“As (Lester) passes north of us, our winds are going to shut down,” Kodama said. “It’s going to definitely be humid.”

He said no major incidents related to Lester were reported to the weather service by early Saturday afternoon.

Honolulu officials opened the Emergency Operations Center for about four hours Saturday to monitor Lester and found no major effects, said John Cummings, spokesman for the city’s Department of Emergency Management.

He said the EOC closed about noon after a quiet morning.

Hurricane Lester was downgraded Saturday morning to a Category 1 storm, and the most damaging wind and rain were expected to stay offshore. At about 5 p.m., the storm had maximum 75 mph winds — barely a hurricane.

The National Weather Service dropped hurricane watches for Oahu and Maui counties Saturday morning as Lester continued on a track north of the state.

Forecasters said wind shear was beginning to tear the storm apart as it moves to the west-northwest at about 17 mph.

Surf was expected to reach 10 to 20 feet through Saturday night along east- and northeast-facing shores from Maui to Kauai.

Surf was expected to peak on Oahu and Kauai on Saturday evening, then quickly decline by today, the weather service said.

Waves could wash over roads and cause coastal erosion.

Lester brought light to moderate rainfall to parts of the state, and an unstable atmosphere will bring the possibility of some heavy showers over all islands Sunday afternoon, the weather service said.

In the 24-hour period ending at 3 p.m., about 1.29 inches fell at Lyon Arboretum in Manoa, 3.01 inches at Kawainui Stream on Hawaii island, and 1.94 inches at Mount Waialeale on Kauai.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center reported thunderstorms off Mexico had an 80 percent chance of turning into a cyclone by 2 p.m. Monday. If the system becomes a tropical storm, its name will be Newton.