LIHU‘E — Holiday beachgoers might have been disappointed Wednesday afternoon as rain continued to soak the island and clouds kept the sun from making an official appearance. It’s not expected to clear up until possibly later this weekend, said National
LIHU‘E — Holiday beachgoers might have been disappointed Wednesday afternoon as rain continued to soak the island and clouds kept the sun from making an official appearance.
It’s not expected to clear up until possibly later this weekend, said National Weather Service Honolulu forecast office meteorologist Bob Burke.
An upper level low pressure system moving north of the islands has made the atmosphere rather unstable, bringing cool and cloudy weather with scattered rainfall, he said Wednesday.
There is a flash flood watch in effect for all islands today, but it could be extended “depending on how things shape up,” Burke said. The next several days will likely be “a bit on the wet side,” with potentially heavy rains.
The weather may not be a hindrance to some, but others rely on blue skies for business.
“Anytime the weather takes away from your ability to do business, it’s like a slap in the face,” said Wailua Kayak Adventures owner Tiane Cleveland who had to cancel activities Wednesday afternoon because the potential for flash flooding was “too great.”
Anyone planning outdoor activities, including hiking and paddling, should exercise caution whenever the forecast calls for locally heavy rainfall, Burke said.
It does not necessarily have to be raining exactly at the location of interest either, he added. Rainfall might occur in mountainous regions that are not in immediate sight, but could cause water levels downstream to rise quickly.
Whenever heavy showers are forecasted, it puts a damper on Wailua Kayak Adventures’ profitability. Cleveland said she always prefers to air on the side of caution, but “it’s hard because the times are hard.”
Even though business might be threatened for some, state Department of Land and Natural Resource aquatic biologist Don Heacock said it is wise to avoid murky water at all costs.
“In urban areas, all kinds of things are discharged,” he said.
Pollutants from many different sources such as agricultural fields and roads get washed into fresh bodies of water which flow into the ocean.
The biggest threat to people, especially when it rains, is leptospirosis — a bacteria infection caused by the urine and feces of infected animals — which usually dies when exposed to salt water but has the potential to linger, Heacock said.
If you have a cut — even a hairline scratch — try to stay out of the water until the weather clears or at least until the water loses its brown color, he said.
“When we get big rains, it’s natures way of flushing out the watersheds,” Heacock said. Floods are essential to maintaining the health of the planet’s ecosystems.
Heavy rains can be expected to occur more frequently now that the tropical winter season is approaching the islands, Burke said. Though “it’s a little early to tell” how the weather will be in the coming months.
There is a developing El Nino effect which “tends to put the islands into a drier pattern,” he said. But, the 50th state is still in a transition period which is “not quite winter,” so it’s hard to say how this system could affect Kaua‘i, he said.
