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Kauai flash flood watch canceled

Nina Wu
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Lightning lit up the downtown Honolulu area around 5 a.m. Friday.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Lightning lit up the downtown Honolulu area around 5 a.m. Friday.

6:31 a.m. today

The National Weather Service has canceled the flash flood warning for Kauai.

For more weather updates, contact the National Weather Service’s automated line at 245-6001 or visit weather.gov/hfo.

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Oct. 11, 11:30 p.m.

Kuhio Highway near the Hanalei Bridge is now open to one lane of alternating traffic.

“Due to the reopening of the highway, the American Red Cross shelter at Hanalei Elementary School is now closed,” Kauai emergency officials said.

A flash flood watch remains in effect through late tonight as the threat for heavy rainfall and flash flooding will steadily trend down overnight into Saturday.

For updates on road conditions and closures, please call 241-1725.

For weather updates call the National Weather Service automated weather line at 245-6001.

7 p.m.

A flash flood warning for Kauai has been extended until 9:15 tonight.

The county reported Kuhio Highway was impassable at the Hanalei Bridge due to flooding. Although rainfall rates have dropped since this afternoon, stream gages remain elevated. The public is advised to avoid travel to the area.

Locations in the warning include but are not limited to Lihue, Kilauea, Anahola, Mana, Hanalei, Na Pali State Park, Omao, North Fork Wailua Trails, Moloaa, Princeville, Wailua Homesteads and Kalaheo.

A flood advisory is also in effect for the Kona side of the Big Island until 9:15 tonight. Radar indicated heavy rain upslope from Kailua-Kona this evening. Rain was falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

3:45 p.m.

A flash flood warning is in effect for Kauai until 6:30 tonight.

Rain in Hanalei was reported at a rate of 3 inches per hour this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Another area of heavy rainfall is moving toward Kauai from the southeast and is expected to move across the island this afternoon.

A flash flood warning means that flooding is imminent or occurring in streams, roads, and low lying areas.

A flash flood watch issued for Oahu this morning has expired.

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Following a night of thunder and lightning, forecasters say deep tropical moisture will persist across the western half of the Hawaiian isles today, bringing heavy rainfall and a chance of thunderstorms to Kauai and Oahu.

The flash flood watch posted for Niihau, Kauai and Oahu has been extended through this afternoon. An earlier flash flood warning for Oahu was canceled as of 7:20 a.m. today.

Today’s highs range from 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with easterly winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour. Tonight’s lows range from 72 to 77 degrees.

Earlier this morning, at 4:45 a.m., National Weather Service officials observed rainfall rates above 2 inches per hour on radar over West Oahu and the Honolulu metro area, prompting the flash flood warning for Oahu.

A flash flood watch means that conditions are favorable for flash flooding, which is life threatening. NWS reminds the public not to cross fast-flowing water in a vehicle or on foot.

On Thursday, the NWS logged a record rainfall as well as a record high temperature.

A record daily rainfall of 3.87 inches was set at Hilo, surpassing the previous record of 1.54 inches in 2018. A record high of 87 at Lihue matched the old record set in 2017. A record high of 95 degrees was set at Kahului, breaking the old record of 93 degrees set in 1984.

Drier weather and trade winds are forecast to return by this evening, and to continue over the weekend through early next week as the moisture moves west of the state.

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