A high-surf advisory is in effect for the north shores of Oahu, Molokai and Maui and the north and west shores of Kauai and Niihau.
Surf of 12 to 16 feet is forecast for north shores, the National Weather Service said. The advisory is in effect at least until 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Moderate northeast tradewinds will veer to the east today, delivering partly cloudy skies and a few windward showers while leeward areas remain dry, the weather service said. Unsettled weather is due for Tuesday and Wednesday as a developing low passes close to the islands, bringing southerly winds and increasing clouds and showers.
Meanwhile a record-low temperature was set in Lihue on Sunday. A low of 56 degrees broke the old record of 59 degrees, set in 1962.
In Kahului, heavy rain last week almost doubled the record and marked the wettest day since record keeping began, the weather service said.
On Wednesday, 6.4 inches of rain fell in Kahului, surpassing the previous record of 3.21 inches in 1955, the weather service said.
The rainfall also made Wednesday the wettest day for Kahului, dating back to 1946, when record keeping began. The previous record was set on Dec. 21, 1955, when 5.82 inches of rain fell from midnight to midnight, the weather service said.
The heavy rain Wednesday caused multiple road closures and landslides on Maui. The weather service also issued flash flood warnings for Maui and the Big Island.
Kauai
Albatrosses return to breed
Laysan albatrosses have begun returning to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge to build nests and lay eggs.
As of Dec. 15, 161 nests had been established, the Garden Island reports. Kim Uyehara, biologist for the refuge complex with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said that’s a 20 percent increase over the previous five-year average of 134 nests.
While albatrosses are congregating at Kilauea Point, the birds can be seen all over the North Shore, sometimes even finding mates and building nests in residents’ yards.
“Females have returned or are returning from sea and switching incubation shifts with males,” Uyehara said. “Chicks will begin hatching in late January.”
On Midway Atoll, meanwhile, the returning albatrosses include Wisdom, at 67 the oldest known breeding bird in the wild.
The wildlife service confirms Wisdom laid an egg Dec. 13. It will be the ninth chick she’s raised and fledged since 2006 with her mate, Akeakamai.
Hawaii island
Arts, science college to split
The University of Hawaii at Hilo will move forward with a “phased” plan to reorganize its largest academic college, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.
In an email Friday to faculty and staff, interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai said the plan will begin with the formation of the College of Natural and Health Sciences on July 1. She promised more details “as the process unfolds.”
UH Hilo’s plan to reorganize was approved earlier this year. It calls for dividing the widely varying College of Arts and Sciences into two separate colleges: the College of Natural and Health Sciences and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The goal is to help boost student retention and combat declining enrollment by removing some administrative layers and giving each college more autonomy.
The plan is slated to take effect July 1.
At least 86 faculty, many working in the units involved, opposed the idea and timeline, citing concerns that the final plan didn’t have enough input from faculty and had become an “administration-driven effort.”
