It’s weather Santa would approve of.
The Big Island’s two summits are braced for Hawaii’s answer to that proverbial howling nor’easter — with wind gusts to 90 mph expected to drive up to a foot of snow hard into the mountain faces by today. Temperatures on the peaks were forecast to dip to a frosty 23 degrees tonight, according to the Mauna Kea Weather Center.
Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea were under blizzard warnings Tuesday and Wednesday and summit roads were closed as a potent upper atmosphere disturbance geared up to slam the peaks well into Christmas Eve.
Because the snow showers were mostly centered above 11,000 feet, the two summits were the only ones in the state likely to be graced with drifts of white, said National Weather Service forecaster Derek Wroe.
Extreme winter weather has also persisted at lower elevations on the north end of the island. American Red Cross personnel responded Tuesday to a home that flooded when a stream backed up with debris in the Keokea area of Kapaau. Flooding and a tangle of trees and utility wires at a bridge closed Highway 270 near Keokea Beach Park Tuesday morning.
Sarah Davis, a resident of Keokea Park Road, said that rain and lightning were intense early Tuesday morning.
“The power went out last night. It was like someone turned a water hose on the house,” she said.
Honokaa got 4.5 inches of rain out of a front that dropped in Monday then remained stall over the Alenuihaha Channel on Tuesday, keeping the threat of heavy showers and thunderstorms around through Wednesday.
A flash flood watch until Wednesday at 6 p.m. was posted Tuesday. On Hawaii Island, the greatest threat of flash flooding is centered in those northern windward slopes that have already received high rainfall, Wroe said.
With close to an inch falling in Honaunau, the rain brought much-needed relief to portions of the coffee belt, where vegetation had begun to wither. Nearby Kealakekua had experienced its driest November since 2005 and little rain fell in the first part of December.
Kona and Kohala shores were still under high surf advisories Tuesday after being pounded for two days by a northwest swell train that brought 10-foot faces and closed low-lying parks and beaches. The swell was expected to continue dissipating Tuesday night, with advisories set to be lifted Wednesday morning. But beachgoers were urged to still exercise caution in approaching the surf, where currents can remain strong and dangerous even after the water appears safe.
The summit winds may persist into the evening, but overall conditions were expected to become more mild Wednesday, with a return to drier and more stable conditions on Christmas Day and Friday.
