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Rainfall sets records for Honolulu and Hilo; snow falls on Hawaii island

Nina Wu
COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
                                Snow fell on Hawaii island earlier this week.
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COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

Snow fell on Hawaii island earlier this week.

COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
                                Snow fell on Hawaii island earlier this week.
2/2
Swipe or click to see more

COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

Snow fell on Hawaii island earlier this week.

COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
                                Snow fell on Hawaii island earlier this week.
COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
                                Snow fell on Hawaii island earlier this week.

A high surf advisory remains in place for east shores through Thursday evening as rains in the isles continue to subside.

The National Weather Service says strong trades will maintain surf of 7 to 10 feet for the east shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii island, keeping the surf advisory in place until 6 p.m. Thursday.

Surf on other shores remains below advisory levels — 3 to 5 feet on north and south shores, and 2 to 4 feet on west shores today.

Today’s forecast is partly sunny, with lingering high clouds for most isles this morning, scattered showers for the windward and mauka areas, and highs from 77 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Lows tonight dip to 67 to 72 degrees.

Breezy to locally windy trades are expected at 15 to 25 mph through tonight and will pick up even more to 30 mph Thursday.

On Monday, a record daily maximum rainfall of 5.3 inches was set at Hilo, breaking the previous record of 4.4 inches set for that day in 1996. A record daily maximum rainfall of 2.8 inches was set at Honolulu, surpassing the previous record of 2.0 inches for that day in 1961.

Several inches of snow also fell at Hawaii island summits on Monday, resulting in a “winter wonderland.”

Weather officials were able to get a clear view of the snow via satellite images as well as via Mauna Kea webcams.

Officials have no official estimate of the amount of snow that fell on Monday, when a winter weather advisory was issued, but in forecasts that day had expected up to 12 inches of additional snow, along with wind gusts up to 45 mph.

The winter weather advisory expired Tuesday evening.

Forecasters say a small out-of-season southwest swell from the Tasman Sea will produce a slight bump in surf heights along south shores today. Other than that, small surf is expected along south shores from Thursday through the weekend.

A small, short-period, north-northeast swell arriving Thursday will likely continue through the weekend.

The trades are expected to slow down over the weekend into the moderate to locally breezy range by Sunday.

A small craft advisory for all Hawaiian waters except Maalaea Bay also remains in effect through 6 a.m. Friday.

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