Third storm in 3 weeks to unleash more rain, flooding in Hawaii
A third Kona storm in three weeks will bring drenching rain, flooding and mudslide risks to Hawaii, while also helping to ease ongoing drought conditions across the islands.
Rain will ramp up late Tuesday, but the biggest impacts will hit Thursday night into the end of the week.
The atmosphere is gearing up for yet another onslaught of drenching rain in the Hawaiian Islands this week. The storm will bring renewed flooding and the risk of mudslides while also helping to ease long-term drought conditions.
The third storm in about three weeks is expected to take shape west of Hawaii and move slowly eastward. As the storm unfolds, it will draw tropical moisture northward across the islands, bringing occasional drenching showers and thunderstorms to areas that are typically sheltered from rain due to persistent northeast trade winds.
The first phase of the new storm will bring an uptick in showers and thunderstorms through Thursday.
Rainfall totals during this long-duration event may exceed the second Kona storm that affected the islands from March 19-22. That storm brought 3-4 inches of rain to the Honolulu area. Before that, the first Kona storm brought nearly 10 inches of rain from March 10-15. Combined rainfall from the two storms was nearly six times Honolulu’s historical March average.
Back-to-back Kona storms that brought historic rainfall, life-threatening flash flooding, widespread evacuations and major infrastructure damage to parts of Hawaii resulted in around $2 billion in total damage and economic loss, according to a preliminary estimate from experts at AccuWeather.
"While there has been a bit more of a gap since the storm that wrapped up on March 21, the ground is still wet, and runoff from the new storm will be swift," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.
The advanced downpours ahead of the main Kona storm brought an inch of rain to Honolulu as of Tuesday night. Some locations on the Big Island of Hawaii have picked up close to a foot of rain so far.
The main impacts from the Kona storm will likely unfold beginning Thursday night.
Streams and reservoirs are likely to rise quickly. Saturated ground, a new round of heavy rain and increasing water pressure could raise the risk of levee failure.
Heavy snow will fall on the summits of the Big Island.
Looking ahead, while the storm may ease late in the week and into the weekend, a moist pattern is likely to persist with higher-than-typical shower activity in areas that do not usually receive downpours under the prevailing trade wind pattern.
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