No major damage reported but flood advisory enacted for Kona

KAILUA-KONA — The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory Thursday afternoon for the area spanning Honalo to Kalaoa in response to persistent heavy rain that sat “nearly stationary” along the Kona Coast.

Meteorologist Vanessa Almanza said around 4:45 p.m. that a station southeast of Kailua-Kona measured rainfall at a little over eight tenths of an inch. She said the rainfall was expected to taper off by 10 p.m. Thursday.

She said the area experienced land sea breeze showers, which started on the slopes and moved onto the coasts as the day progressed. Those sea breezes were only expected to last until the tradewinds returned and said the weather wasn’t anything abnormal.

Police said Thursday afternoon that there hadn’t been an unusual or large number of accidents reported and that while some ponding on roads had been reported, there weren’t any road closures.

Rain was falling at a rate of 1-2 inches per hour when the advisory was released.

During flood advisories, those in the affected area are advised to avoid low-lying areas prone to flooding and that rainfall and runoff will cause dangerous driving conditions as a result of ponding, reduced visibility and the impact on braking ability. Motorists should also drive carefully and should not attempt to cross fast-flowing water or rising waters in their vehicles.

There were no watches or advisories in effect by 5:30 p.m. yesterday.

The forecast according to the National Weather Service anticipated sunny weather this morning before becoming mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers in the late morning and afternoon. Weather will be mostly cloudy in the evening with isolated showers.

The chance of rain drops to 20 percent tonight and will remain there through Thursday, according to the forecast.