Hawaii's wet spring weather

[Nords]

Thx Nords -- Nice to know we followed the "script" again this time!  I guess you follow more threads than the rest of us -- maybe you need to be out surfing more? 

I can't argue with that, but the surfing sucks.

40 days of rain, a year's worth of rainfall in the last three weeks, four inches yesterday, and more forecast for Wednesday...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Is it true that some mountain over there has had nine feet of rain this year? I heard that from someone but havent gotten around to verifying it.

 

[Nords]

I'm a sucker for a good hijack, but let me split this out into a separate thread.

Is it true that some mountain over there has had nine feet of rain this year? I heard that from someone but havent gotten around to verifying it.

Yep. In 2004 "Mount Waialeale recorded 415.08 inches (98 percent of normal)". IIRC it's the wettest spot on earth above sea level.

The soil around here is saturated and the rain's been getting worse. Last week Kauai's Ka Loko dam collapsed, killing at least three people (four more are still missing). Oahu's North Shore has flooded in a number of areas and a dozen families are homeless. Several different crops (Oahu & Hawaii island grow half of the state's veggies & fruits) have been ruined. Saturday's rain put a pretty nasty flood in the gulch below our house and made me wonder how many pilings of that 70-year-old two-lane bridge are being eroded. And more rain is on the way tomorrow...

 

[ronin]

...but the surfing sucks.

Nords,
We've been getting only the trailing edges of the rain, but a full complement of sucky surf.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

The soil around here is saturated and the rain's been getting worse. Last week Kauai's Ka Loko dam collapsed, killing at least three people (four more are still missing). Oahu's North Shore has flooded in a number of areas and a dozen families are homeless. Several different crops (Oahu & Hawaii island grow half of the state's veggies & fruits) have been ruined. Saturday's rain put a pretty nasty flood in the gulch below our house and made me wonder how many pilings of that 70-year-old two-lane bridge are being eroded. And more rain is on the way tomorrow...

Trouble in paradise - I feel your pain and hope things dry out soon. Stay safe.

Here in Fla, whose climate I really love, the hurricanes are the demon. Bad as they are, they last hours to perhaps a day, once or twice a year, then leave.  We have been completely spared personally, but it could happen to anyone.

Nature has to remind us who's boss once in a while. Makes you enjoy the fine times a little more.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Could be worse, you could live here where we've got "katrina fever". Someone just decided that our levies and dams dont have adequate flood protection in the event of a 'katrina like event'. Nobody has noticed yet that we dont get hurricanes here.

So the month of january when it rained non-stop, the dam operators opened the dam gates and dumped far more water than they usually do "just in case we get more wet weather, we want the reservoirs to be able to handle it". The resulting overflow flooded hundreds of homes that have never flooded in 50 years. The rain and dam levels were both at or below normal.

What do we do about this? Try to sell a few billion in bonds to rebuild the levies of course!

Next we had a dry february, which if it had persisted, would have meant drought all summer long since thats our water supply.

Fortunately (I guess) its rained like hell all march and left us with a great snow-pack for summer water.

The flood victims will sue the county water district for flooding their homes. The last time that happened was 1986. The county appealed the case to the nth degree and was just now ordered to pay the victims. Half of which are dead and most of the rest moved out of the area. Along with the payments was a notice that the payments were considered taxable... :

 

[SteveR]

We have been getting the cold white stuff from your "Pineapple Express" that flows up from your part of the world.  After it collides into the west coast it is forced up by the mountains and creates snow for most of the western US.  We have recorded over 500 inches of snow at some elevations so far this season.  That is a nice step in refilling the lakes and streams around here.  We have been in a 5 year drought cycle so all this snow will go a long way in keeping my yard green all summer.  

I hope you don't get all moldy living in all that water.  

 

[Nords]

Could be worse, you could live here where we've got "katrina fever".  Someone just decided that our levies and dams dont have adequate flood protection in the event of a 'katrina like event'.  Nobody has noticed yet that we dont get hurricanes here.
So the month of january when it rained non-stop, the dam operators opened the dam gates and dumped far more water than they usually do "just in case we get more wet weather, we want the reservoirs to be able to handle it".

You're gonna have to send those guys over here; the news broke this week that the state was notified about the Ka Loko problem three weeks ago and hadn't gotten around to it yet. Now we've discovered that none of the state's 140-odd dams & reservoirs have been inspected since 2004. Apparently we haven't been spending enough taxpayer dollars to hire quality dam inspectors.

Gosh, I hope the Democrats don't turn political and gang up on our Republican governor.

One of the state's big car dealers, a guy named Pfleuger, was convicted last month of grading & digging his property without a permit. He's been doing it for the last 10 years but the authorities just caught up with him and the EPA finally slapped a multi-million dollar fine in his face. Guess what dam is on his property, although the EPA did issue a statement that the dam collapse had nothing to do with his litigation. I wonder how much he's paying for liability insurance now?

During last week's rain, one of the many jammed culverts on the North Shore was threatening to allow the rising waters into nearby homes. Two guys jumped into the stream to clear the culvert, succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, and were promptly swept a couple hundred yards into the ocean before they could swim out of the rip. They lived, but I'm pretty sure that at least a dozen onlookers exclaimed "Dood!" and ran home for their boogieboards.

I'm waiting for the leptospirosis, mosquito, & dengue fever crises.

Spouse is beginning to rethink her aspirations to that billet working with the Civil Defense staff. Getting paid is one thing, earning it is quite another.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I guess the good news is the alternative would be standing up to our waist in snow.

Nice out on the patio today..."normal" march weather of ~70 and sunny has returned...

 

[Nords]

Re: Hawaii's wettest spring weather ever!

I think it's safe to come out now. Take care, TH & Jarhead, it's almost over for you guys too.

Friday finished 30 straight hours of rain on Oahu. Two homes slid off their Manoa Valley lots, cracked their foundations, and their 80-year-old owners had to watch their 50-year-old homes being condemned. Kahala Mall flooded under two feet of water. (A Foot Locker franchise lost 100 pairs of sneakers.) Part of the hillside by us (but a hundred feet from our property line) collapsed onto the road below and closed it for 24 hours. Saturday was sunny & mild but Sunday gave us another three inches of rain over the whole island in about six hours. It was raining so hard that our gutters couldn't puke the water out fast enough and overflowed. Civil Defense evacuated 12 Waimanalo families when the Kailua reservoir started to overflow its spillway channel. At least no one was hurt or killed this time.

We've had about two years' worth of rain in a month. Every single rainfall record for March has been broken, and it probably breaks most of the records for the rest of the year too. Our yard is full of mushrooms, the outside of our house is moldy, and the snail population explosion is cutting a deep swath through our tomato plants.

But I'm sure the HVCB will join me in assuring everyone that the stalled system is breaking up. The neighborhood is coming alive again like little groundhogs crawling out of their holes to check the weather. It's been sunny & mild this morning and the trades are back. There's only a couple little puffy white clouds in the sky, our neighbors are drying their laundry outside again, our water heater is 130 degrees and rising, and it looks like the PV array is going to pump out 10 or 12 kilowatt-hours. Life is good again.

Now if that surf would just come up a little more... who am I kidding, I'll be out there tomorrow even if it's flat!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, thanks a bunch for the second-hand rain.

Do Jarhead and I a favor. Dont wash your car. Ever.