Rain Pounds Windward Big Island, More to Come

A pounding by showers on the windward coast of the Big Island the past two nights was a precursor of what can be expected for Veterans Day, with more rain forecast for the rest of the workweek, the National Weather Service said this morning.

Honoka`a received the brunt of the rainfall overnight with 4.27 inches in the 12-hour period ending at 8 a.m. today. Add in Sunday’s rain and the 2.81 inches it received Saturday night, and the total for the town since Saturday night reaches 8.37 inches.

The upper Hilo areas of Piihonua and Waiakea Uka also received a drenching last night with 12-hour totals of 4.26 inches and 3.72 inches, respectively, weather service data showed.

Lesser amounts were seen in Pahoa (2.78 inches), Mountain View (2.67) and at Hilo’s airport (2.43) for that period.

Forecasters said a drier airmass approaching Hawaii from the northwest will bring relief for the rest of the state. However, tradewinds and the remnants of a frontal system will continue to bring showers to windward side of the Big Island today, with locally heavy rainfall and thundershowers possible.

The extended forecast calls mostly cloudy windward conditions with scattered to numerous showers through Friday.

Drought-stricken South Kohala, where county water supply officials on Friday declared mandatory water restrictions because of dwindling reservoir supplies, received about 2 inches of rain over the weekend. However, because today is a holiday, officials were not available for comment as to what relief that may have provided.

Leeward sections of the Big Island are expected to see partly cloudy mornings and more clouds in the afternoons with scattered afternoon and evening showers during that period.