Crazy Hawaii Weather

[Jeff Snyder]

I think many of us have heard of the deluge of rain that many areas of/in Hawaii have experienced the past couple of months. In perusing some of the PHFO NWSFO products, I noticed this:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("PHFO NWSFO PNS")</div>

..TORNADO TOUCH DOWN ON LANAI

A SMALL F(0) TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT KAUMALAPAU HARBOR ON THE ISLAND
OF LANAI LAST NIGHT...MARCH 23 2006...AROUND 935 PM HST. DAMAGE
REPORTS INCLUDED A 10X10 CONSTRUCTION TRAILER THAT WAS FLIPPED OVER
AND BLOWN ABOUT 10 FEET, DAMAGE TO A SMALLER ADJACENT BUILDING, AND
A POWER POLE THAT WAS BROKEN OR SNAPPED.
...
WHILE RARE...TORNADOES DO OCCUR IN HAWAII. SINCE 1950...THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RECORDED 34 TORNADOES IN THE STATE.
THE STRONGEST WAS AN F2 TORNADO ON THE BIG ISLAND IN 1971THAT DID
2.5 MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGE.
[/b]

--> http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/PHFO/0603250024.nohw40.html ... There was a tornado warning in effect (issued about 5min earlier I think).

In addition:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("PHFO NWSFO WSW")</div>

...HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS IN STORE FOR THE VOLCANO SUMMITS ON
THE BIG ISLAND...

.A NEW LOW FORMING SOUTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS WILL BRING MORE HEAVY
SNOW AND STRONG WINDS TO UPPER ELEVATIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND. [/b]

--> http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/PHFO/0603251322.wwhw40.html

In Lihue (on *Kauai*, I believe), there has been 38.97" of rain so far this year, which is almost 4 times the average of 10.66"!

 

[Steven Williams]

I'm guessing most, if not all, the tornadoes at Hawaii would be non-mesocyclonic. Many possibly start a waterspouts too.

 

[Joerg Kachelmann]

Yup, Ensemble for precip quite impressive

Ensemble Precip Hawaii

Experimental Homepage weather.us

 

[bill mudd]

yea was watching that storm on radar that day (my daughter was on honeymoon in MAUI at the time, go figure) and couldn't believe the 40k tops and the COD warning page listing a tornado WARNING for the ISLAND of Lanai and MAUI????waaa???
way too funny

BTW Lihue is located in southern Kauia - but a skip and jump from Maui in reality - and THATS one hellaofa ton of rain! lol B)

 

[Bill Hark]

There have been a number of storms and flooding in the Hawaii area. here is a link with an image of one of the tornadoes.

Tornado article and image

Bill Hark

 

[Jeff Snyder]

The Honolulu NWSFO has a nice PNS regarding the incredible rainfall from the past couple of months at http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/PHFO/0603280110.nohw40.html

Interesting:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("PHFO NWSFO PNS")</div>

FOR MUCH OF THE STATE...THIS MARCH HAS BEEN VERY MUCH LIKE THAT OF
MARCH 1951. IN REVIEWING UPPER LEVEL ATMOSPHERIC PATTERNS...THERE
WAS A REMARKABLE SIMILARITY THAT MONTH TO THE CURRENT PATTERN...NOT
ONLY ACROSS THE PACIFIC BUT THE ENTIRE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. AS THE
CASE THIS YEAR...1951 SAW A SERIES OF HEAVY RAIN EVENTS ACROSS MUCH
OF THE STATE. RECORDS FROM 1951 INDICATE SIGNIFICANT FLOODING AND
AGRICULTURAL LOSSES THAT WERE ESTIMATED AT NEARLY $1.3 MILLION.
[/b]

Anyone know how 1951 tornadoes compared with climo?