Something You Don't See Everyday

[Tony Laubach]

Was on the weather.gov page and saw blizzard warnings in Hawaii of all places (NWS - Honolulu). Obviously this is for elevations above 8000 feet, but just weird to see something like that there of all places...

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
341 AM HST THU DEC 6 2007

BIG ISLAND SUMMITS-INCLUDING THE CITY OF...MAUNA LOA AND MAUNA KEA ABOVE 8000 FEET

341 AM HST THU DEC 6 2007

...BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON HST TODAY...
PASSING CONVECTIVE SHOWERS AS WELL AS STRONG WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE SUMMITS THIS MORNING...RESULTING IN WHITE OUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES WITH NEAR ZERO VISIBILITIES UNDER BLOWING SNOW. TRAVELING IN THE AREA REMAINS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 INCHES OR MORE ARE STILL POSSIBLE...WITH SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING SNOW. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AT OR BELOW FREEZING LEVEL WITH WIND CHILL IN THE TEENS AND LOWER 20S. TRAVEL TO THE SUMMITS IS STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED. A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS THAT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.

A good buddy of mine back in Ohio just finished his stint with the Navy down there and was saying how much he missed the weather in Hawaii... I forwarded this along with the flood stuff from down there and told him he was probably better off in Ohio! LOL

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Nice catch Tony, they might end up with more snow than you or I for 2007, LOL. By the way, since I've moved to Colorado can I join the Colorado gang?

 

[Dan Nichols]

I know that Hawaii isn't exactly a chasers' Mecca depite the fact it can rain a lot. But because of the large amounts of rain in some areas, and due to the mountains on the Big Island (Hawaii), there must surely be some caches where storms may form locally -- not to mention volcanic activity as a possible factor. Can anyone tell us if, and where, any severe thunderstorms have been reported there -- or on any of the islands?

 

[D. Hayes]

I lived on Oahu for 4 years and I can only recall maybe 1 severe storm but that didn't make it to huricane status. 95% of the rain was like a calm shower there on the Honolulu side. Then you had the mountain winds sweaping a fine mist which made the breath taking super rainbows. Sadly I was always at work when those came out.

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

I know that Hawaii isn't exactly a chasers' Mecca depite the fact it can rain a lot. But because of the large amounts of rain in some areas, and due to the mountains on the Big Island (Hawaii), there must surely be some cause for storms -- not to mention volcanic activity as a possible factor. Can anyone tell us if, and where, any severe thunderstorms have been reported there -- or on any of the islands?

There is a vid clip on TVC I of a waterspout coming ashore at Kailua-Kona and doing some damage.

And at the lava entry into the ocean there are occasionally 'waterspouts' derived from all the thermal activity.

 

[Mike Krzywonski]

I've lived on Oahu for 18 yrs. Unfortunately, we receive very little T-storm activity. Although it rains often, we probably average about 1 or 2 non-severe T-storms per year, & these are usually rain-wrapped. I've never witnessed a water spout, either.

I did save some photos of a landspout in a pineapple field from the local newspaper a few years back. My sister witnessed it while driving to work.

Here's a post I submitted of Hawaii's last significant weather event:
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14478

Just before this hit Oahu, a severe T-storm warning was issued for the island of Kauai.