Hawaii can expect showers, storms this winter

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii can expect trade-wind showers and storms to bring near to above-average rainfall to the islands during the winter wet season, the National Weather Service said Thursday.

The moisture will help parts of the state battling a lingering drought — as in near Kihei on Maui and Hanapepe on Kauai — recover from their dry spells.

La Nina weather conditions are one reason for wetter outlook this year compared to last.

La Nina is a cooling of the central Pacific that affects weather around the globe. It’s the flip side of El Nino, which is a natural warming of the central Pacific. Last year’s El Nino resulted in Hawaii’s fifth-driest wet season in the last 30 years in the winter. It also gave the islands a record-setting hurricane season in the summer months.

Hawaii’s winter storms often arrive from the west and northwest and can lead to flash flooding, said Kevin Kodama, a senior hydrologist for the National Weather Service’s Honolulu office. These storms are often brought by cold fronts, Kona storms and upper-level low pressure systems.

The agency is reminding residents to avoid driving on roads with fast-flowing water and not to attempt crossing flooded streams.

Hawaii’s winter wet season lasts from October through April.

Forecasters say this winter’s La Nina may not last long, which may lead to additional rain. The agency said there’s only a 55 percent chance La Nina will persist through the winter. When it dissipates, the El Nino and La Nina phenomenon is expected to revert to neutral, Kodama said. Seven of Hawaii’s 10 wettest wet seasons have been associated with neutral years, Kodama said.

“So the odds tend in favor of wetter-than-average conditions,” he said.