This wet season’s storms are making Hawaiʻi history books.
At the Honolulu airport, rainfall from Feb. 1 to March 15 hasn’t been this abundant in more than two decades, according to National Weather Service data. Rain gauges reached 12.34 inches – more than four times the average annual total rainfall in this period since 2000. The most recent year that got even close was 2017, and even then, the total precipitation was two inches less.
The airport is in one of the drier parts of Oʻahu, and rainfall varies dramatically across the island, as it does on the other islands. Some places got substantially more rain during the latest Kona low. The area around St. Stephen Diocesan Center near Kailua had 22.8 inches of rainfall from March 10 to 15. The rain gauges at the Olomana Fire Station near Maunawili received 18 inches during that same period and nearby areas got even more.
Still, the National Weather Service uses airports in Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului and Līhuʻe as the official collection sites because data there stretches back decades. Daily precipitation data from the National Weather Service used for this analysis goes back to 2000.
On Maui, the Kahului airport is also shattering rainfall records for this time of year. The area got roughly 18.9 inches of rain from Feb. 1 to March 15 – more than during that same period in the last five years combined. It’s also a 74% increase over the previous record of 10.84 inches in 2015.
On Kauaʻi, the Līhuʻe airport hasn’t had a wetter year in more than a decade. About 14.87 inches of rain have fallen since the start of February – about 10 inches more than the average rainfall for that time.
And more rain is on the way later this week.
February’s Storm Broke Records. This One Was Worse.
While the Hilo airport isn’t breaking as many records due to its wetter climate, the Big Island city has still gotten substantial amounts of rain in recent weeks. As the storm rolled east and weather dissipated in other parts of the state, Hawaiʻi County continued to feel its impacts. As of March 15, the airport in Hilo had recorded more than 26.5 inches of rain since the start of February.
Even before the latest storm, rainfall at the Hilo airport had broken records, according to the National Weather Service. During the first storm this year that triggered an emergency proclamation, it rained 3.11 inches in Hilo on Feb. 9 – more than the airport has seen on that date since 1972. By the time that storm was over, the area had gotten 6.51 inches of rain – more than Honolulu, Līhuʻe and Kahului airports combined and the most rainfall over those dates since 2008. The wettest day was actually Super Bowl Sunday, February 8, when it rained 3.16 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Kahului and Līhuʻe airports each got 1.69 inches of rain during the emergency proclamation from Feb. 7 to 10 – the highest in this four-day stretch since at least 2000 for both cities.
The most recent Kona low was much wetter than its early February predecessor. On Maui, the Kahului airport got 15.34 inches of rain over the course of the latest emergency proclamation, which lasted from March 10 to 15. That’s about nine times as much rain as the city got during the February storm. The airport in Līhuʻe got almost six times as much precipitation, a total of almost 10 inches.
Data Dives are Civil Beat’s quick takes on numbers and data sets with a Hawai‘i angle.
The Wettest Day In Years
At the Honolulu airport, March 13 was the second rainiest day since 2000 with 5.51 inches. At the Kahului airport, it was the rainiest, with 7.4 inches — more than half again the previous daily record of 4.76 inches set in 2003.
Rain fell fast and hard, causing substantial flooding across the state. The Kula Forest Reserve on Maui got more than 6.5 inches of rain in a three-hour period into early Saturday morning. The National Weather Service logged more than 5 inches of rain in just three hours on Saturday evening near the Puʻu Honua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park south of Kailua-Kona on the leeward side of the island.
“Data Dive” is supported in part by the Will J. Reid Foundation.
Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.
Sign Up
Sorry. That’s an invalid e-mail.
Thanks! We’ll send you a confirmation e-mail shortly.
