Heavy Rains Dodge Big Island, Move Northwest

The Big Island, particularly the windward side, has dodged a soggy bullet.

Heavy moisture that was lingering just off the southeast shore of the Big Island earlier this week was expected to pass directly over the island beginning on Wednesday. That prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash-flood watch Tuesday effective for the Big Island and Maui through this evening.

But as of late yesterday, the Big Island had been removed from the advisory.

“It ended up not really coming to fruition,” said Matt Foster, a forecaster with the weather service office in Honolulu.

Most of the moisture-laden remnant of a cold front instead moved further north toward Maui, Foster said, although parts of the Big Island’s eastern side received up to an inch of rain overnight. (That might seem like a lot for some places, but not for the Big Island’s windward side where many areas see more than 10 feet of rainfall annually.)

Driving the movement is a large low-pressure system north of Kauai which is pulling the moisture toward it.

As a result, a flash-flood watch is in place for Oahu and Maui County through 6 a.m. Friday and for Kauai through 6 that night.

A satellite photograph taken at 12:30 p.m. today shows moisture making its way across the state. NOAA image.

However, that doesn’t mean it will be totally dry over Hawai`i County, at least  today.

“It’s still pretty unstable, so you might get some showers,” particularly during the afternoon, Foster said.

 But the trend will be toward better weather, particularly into the weekend.

 Foster said southeasterly winds will begin moving a drier air mass over the island beginning on Friday.