Heavy downpours set record for wettest June in Honolulu

The thunderstorm that wreaked havoc in various parts of Oahu Tuesday — with flooding, downed trees, power outages and lightning-related strikes that caused injuries to a 10-year-old boy and two workers at the airport — set new records for the month of June.

The torrential downpour with 4.2 inches of rain broke the 1994 record of .14 inches of rain in a single day in Honol­ulu. Tuesday’s rainfall total also made June 2019 the wettest June on record for Honolulu.

“Because of the rain in the past couple days, we’re now in the wettest June in recorded history in the City and County of Honolulu ever,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said. “That tells me a lot … I think we’re seeing an example of changing climate and a climate crisis.”

The record is significant because June is statistically the driest month of the year, according to James Thomas, meteorologist of the National Weather Service. The unstable weather was caused by a combination of a low pressure trough west of Kauai and an abundant tropical moisture that has moved over the area from the south, he said.

The weather is expected to stabilize with tradewinds returning Friday.

Thomas said lightning storms in Hawaii are “very uncommon due to the typically stable weather over the area.”

He said there is a saying at the National Weather Service: “When thunder roars, move indoors … If you hear thunder, you’re close enough to be struck by lightning.”

The 10-year-old injured boy was sitting in the bed of a pickup truck with his father as the vehicle was traveling on Kalihi Street at about 9:05 p.m when they saw a lightning bolt hit the ground in front of the truck, said Honolulu Fire Spokesman Capt. Scot Seguirant. Sparks flew out of a transformer above the vehicle and onto the pickup truck.

Seguirant said the child was experiencing significant pain in his right arm. Emergency Medical Services personnel treated him and took him to a hospital in serious condition. It is unclear if lightning directly struck the child.

Thomas noted if the child was in contact with metal struck by lightning, “he would have been shocked by the lightning.”

A 46-year-old man and 32-year-old man also sustained lightning-related injuries at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. The two contracted workers were injured when lightning struck an American Airlines plane being serviced at gate E10 at about 8:45 pm.

Tim Sakahara, spokesman of the Hawaii Department of Transportation, said they were outside of the aircraft but in contact with the plane when the lightning hit. One is a cargo worker and the other works with a catering company contracted by the airlines.

Both complained of pain in their left arms, and were taken to a hospital in serious condition but released shortly thereafter.

United Airlines halted baggage operations Wednesday morning because of flooding underneath Lobby 8 of Terminal 2 where employees handle luggage. Generators and pumps were used to remove the water.

The city activated its Emergency Operations Center Tuesday night for weather-related emergencies. Honolulu firefighters also responded to downed trees, stalled vehicles and flooding in various parts of Oahu, including Kailua, Mililani, Kalihi, Mapunapuna, Honolulu and Kaka^­ako.

Crews responded to the following:

>> Debris on the Windward-­bound lanes of the Pali Highway, where crews cleared debris, and installed six-foot anchors to keep matting in place in the area where a landslide occurred in February.

>> Flooding on westbound lanes of the H-1 freeway near Liliha Street, where crews cleared drains and up to eight inches of mud on the westbound lanes.

>> Flooding in four areas of Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard.

>> Power outages that impacted traffic signals from Sand Island Access Road to Alakawa Street.