Nasty New Year’s weekend weather drenched the Island beginning Thursday afternoon and is expected to continue through today. A flash flood warning was issued through today by the National Weather Service. At mid-day on Friday, a strong low pressure system
Nasty New Year’s weekend weather drenched the Island beginning Thursday afternoon and is expected to continue through today.
A flash flood warning was issued through today by the National Weather Service.
At mid-day on Friday, a strong low pressure system was located about 700 miles west of Kaua‘i and was moving south at 13 miles per hour. On the east side of the low, a band of heavy showers and thunderstorms was hitting Kaua‘i and approaching O‘ahu. One 60-mile-wide band of the low was located in the Kaua‘i Channel between the two islands.
Waimea River was flowing heavy, but not over the bank on mid-afternoon Friday, according to a report from Waimea Valley residents.
One of the victims of the weather may have been a popular New Year’s Eve fireworks display. At press time Friday, the annual fireworks display at Po‘ipu Beach was on the verge of being canceled, according to an e-mail from Margy Parker, executive director of the Poipu Beach Resort Association.
New Year’s Eve party cancellations were also being reported.
Friday afternoon the road to Hanalei remained open, though the Kaua‘i Police Department was keeping a close eye on rainfall to determine if the section of Kuhio Highway fronting the taro fields at Hanalei needed to be closed.
Thursday night brought thunder and lightning to the North Shore and the interior of the island. Princeville resident Ted Lauder reported a close encounter with a lightning bolt in Hanalei at about 7 p.m. Lauder said the strike may have caused a half hour blackout in the area.
