Kauaians will have to wait until the weekend to get any relief from continual showers that have drenched the island since Sunday, the National Weather Service says. The wild weather produced some unusual weather phenomena including a reported touchdown of
Kauaians will have to wait until the weekend to get any relief from continual showers that have drenched the island since Sunday, the National Weather Service says.
The wild weather produced some unusual weather phenomena including a reported touchdown of a waterspout off Anahola, the threat of a hailstorm at the Pacific Missile Range Facility and a healthy rain over usually arid Ni’ihau.
With a Kona low pressure weather system laying northwest of Kaua’i now moving away from the state, showers are expected to diminish and will be replaced by windy, drier and cool weather conditions by the weekend, said an official with the NWS office in Lihu’e.
Three days of rain temporarily shut down water service to Hanalei and forced the closure of the Big Save Value Center at the Ching Young Village due to lack of staffing, leaving some people without food.
And minor landslides on roads in Wailua and Lihu’e made driving risky. Lightning bolts also illuminated the skies Monday evening.
The rainfall is expected to diminish between Tuesday and Thursday, when partly cloudy conditions with isolated showers with southwesterly winds are predicted, NWS said.
But a cold front is expected to reach Kaua’i by Friday or Saturday, producing showers and clouds, NWS said.
Windy, cool and drier air conditions are expected to prevail over Kaua’i when the front passes over the island Sunday and Monday, NWS said.
County officials reopened traffic over the Hanalei Bridge by 10 p.m.. Monday after the rain and water level in the Hanalei River subsided and the bridge was safe to cross.
The bridge was closed at 1 a.m. Monday due to flooding of parts of the roadway leading to it, according to Kaua’i Fire Battalion Chief Ernest Moniz Jr.
The Kaua’i County Department of Water also announced Tuesday that water service was fully restored to the Hanalei area.
An electrical failure at the well shut down the Hanalei water system Monday, but the pump was activated by Monday afternoon, and the system was fully restored by Tuesday morning.
During the shutdown of the system, water was delivered to Hanalei area residents from the Princeville Utilities Company.
Water Department officials thanked Princeville for help. The system serves as a backup for the county system.
The Water Department also tested the Hanalei water system, but found no contamination.
