Hawaii Continues to Get Pounded

Three weeks ago today I was enjoying my first full day in Kauai and trying to find some sun. That struggle continued for the whole week I was there as rain fell in various intensities every day. I figured the rain would quit as soon as I got on the airplane to fly home, but it still hasn't stopped, and may not for another 10 days:

Heavy rains settled over parts of Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island yesterday. Lihue got more than 4.8 inches in the 24-hour period ending at 5:45 p.m. yesterday, while Wailua saw 4.6 inches.

The fourth storm in the series started Monday, forecasters said. Other storms hit from Feb. 19 to 24, March 1 to 3 and March 8 to 10.

For Hanalei, the last three weeks has been the wettest on record since 1907 -- two years after meteorologists starting recording rainfall totals for the town, Nash said.

Lihue received 25 inches over the three-week period, compared with just an inch last year. It's the wettest February and March for Lihue since 1950.

"We've just had round after round after round of heavy rain," Nash said. "For Kauai, it's certainly up there in the record books."

The record-high totals on Kauai come on the heels of an unusually dry 2005 for the island. In December, Mount Waialeale got just 1.67 inches of rain, while Lihue Airport saw just .08 inches -- both record lows.

Over the last three weeks, Mount Waialeale has seen more than 106 inches, and Lihue Airport has gotten 28.9 inches.

"Kauai has taken the brunt of the most widespread, excessive rainfall," the weather service said. "Even the normally drier leeward sides have been much wetter than normal."

Just a couple of days ago one person was killed and several others are missing on Kauai after an earthen dam burst. There are apparently lots of dams like that one on Kauai and other islands which could be further compromised by all the rain they're getting. It's easy to see why everything's so green when they're getting 28 inches of rain in three weeks, but the poor folks in that tropical paradise need a break.