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After 28 inches of rain soaks Hanalei, more likely ahead

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COURTESY OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Roads were washed out on Kauai on Sunday.

It’s most likely that the rainfall over Hanalei that caused widespread flooding Saturday night set a new record, but a lost gage will make it difficult to verify, according to National Weather Service officials.

A total of 28.15 inches of rain fell on Hanalei in the 24 hours between 2 a.m. Saturday to Sunday, before the gage stopped reporting, according to meteorologist Chevy Chevalier. That’s very close to the record of 28.54 inches set in the 24 hours between 4 a.m. March 4 and 5, 2012.

“It’s highly likely that the record was broken at the gage in Hanalei,” said Chevalier, given that it continued to rain after the gage was lost.

Without information from the gage, Chevalier said the Saturday night rainfall in Hanalei will not go down in the record books. Once it is safe, NWS crews will head out to Hanalei to look for the gage and repair it, if possible.

Forecasters say a ridge of high pressure to the north of the state will keep a moderate to breezy trade wind flow in place through Wednesday, with clouds and showers favoring windward and mauka areas. Unsettled conditions, meaning more rain, may return Wednesday night through Friday for Kauai and Oahu as an upper-level trough moves through the area.

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