Hurricane Lane-August 2018

Hurricane “Lane” started life as most storms do heading this direction off the coast of Mexico and began it’s general march westward toward the Hawaii islands the week of August 12th. The local news updated the storm’s progress and Lissette and I noted the location and general trajectory westward and toward our island nightly. I have come to doubt the meteorological community when it comes to hurricane predictions as they seem to cry “wolf” too often in order to bring our eyes and minds back to their news stations nightly it seems. In this case my attention quickly became more acute when I saw the storm was predicted to develop into a category 5 storm with 180 mph winds and the predicted path could possibly take it under our southern tip then “hook” upward and charge the western coastline where we live. Potentially, this major hurricane could have affected the eastern side then travel up the western side of Hawaii island then damage the other major Hawaiian islands in it’s path.

In my 17 years on Hawaii island I’ve heard many people quote “local knowledge” regarding hurricanes. Most of the knowledge contained 2 “facts”. The first is that no “hurricane” had directly struck the island of Hawaii much less the west side of Hawaii island. This is still partially true as 3, down graded, hurricanes have made direct hits on the east coast of our island. Recently, on August 9, 2014 tropical storm Iselle made landfall then Darby which struck on July 23, 2016 near Pahala with 40 mph winds. Both storms caused widespread power outages, flooding and damaged many homes and businesses. Both had been classified as hurricanes until coming very close to our island where they were downgraded to tropical storms. Weather records are few as they only started in 1949. Therefore the first storm noted, that came in from the east and hit the Big Island was in 1958, with peak sustained winds of 50 mph. Because of this, Iselle and Darby were rare, tropical storms when they made landfall in 2014 and 2016.

On Tuesday night, Lane became one of only two recorded Category 5 hurricanes to pass within 350 miles of the Big Island’s South Point. The last was Hurricane John in 1994. On Wednesday, as the hurricane approached and passed under our island, winds exceeded 160 mph with gusts to 180 mph as it made it’s way upward and toward the island’s west side. See it’s path with category classifications at every location above within the start of the video.

The National Weather Service reported rainfall in the Mountain View community as the third-highest rainfall total from a tropical cyclone in the country since 1950. Initial calculations for Mountain View, indicate 51.53 inches of rain fell between noon on Wednesday and 4 a.m. Sunday. The highest total rainfall from any hurricane located in the United States is 60.58 inches measured at Nederland, Texas, in 2017 from Hurricane Harvey. The second highest is 52 inches recorded at the Kanalohuluhulu Ranger Station on Kauai from Hurricane Hiki in 1950.

The Weather Service also reported that Hilo received 36.76 inches of rain at the Hilo Airport between 12 a.m. Wednesday and midnight Saturday. That is the highest rainfall total for a four-day period in Hilo on record, which I previously noted only date back to 1949. Friday’s single day total of 15 inches was the fifth-highest calendar day total for Hilo on record. In comparison, the west, Kohala Coast during the same 4 day period received less than 1” of rain.

Light rain and overcast conditions were the only sign of the hurricane at any point at the Mauna Lani resort. See the video segments from the shoreline and the beach club from Friday morning while the storm was cat 5 and bending northward toward the west side of the island. Our beaches were closed and readied for the impending storm by moving all the chaises and cabanas under cover. “Beach Closed” signs were posted at every beach entrance and businesses closed in preparation for what seemed to be a direct hit on our location.

We know that nearby Waimea and the north east portion of the island received heavy rains and high winds as friends and clients reported these conditions at their homes. The Winona catamaran which is usually moored in Makaiwa Bay was moved to the Kawaihae harbor and the owner reported that he stayed over night in the boat to monitor it’s condition and assure it stayed safely tied to it’s mooring. Kawika reported that the interior harbor conditions were quite turbulent with excessive winds he estimated to be above 50 mph.

Those of us on the Kohala west coast are blessed with the results of this major storm’s passing through and well wishes go out to our friends and family on the east side of the island some of who are still recovering from the recent volcanic eruptions etc. “We dodged a bullet,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, speaking at a news conference Friday. “Mother Nature is unpredictable and this event brought us all together like never before.” According to weather experts, our constant eastern wind shear is the primary weather factor that lead to this hurricanes demise. “The 35 to 45 knots of shear began to impact the core convection from Lane, the battle ended quickly,” the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said, Friday afternoon. “We will be happy to get rid of the tropical cyclone in our vicinity. Until then, people should be mindful of additional impacts that can still occur until Lane departs.” “This has definitely been a fascinating event,” Brooke Bingaman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said. “We always knew that the shear could definitely have an impact on the storm, and that’s one of the reasons that the hard turn to the west was in the forecast track because (forecasters) knew that once that shear had an impact on the storm, it can do that very quickly,” she said.

Hurricane season isn’t over yet with the next storm approaching-tropical storm “Miriam”-which happens to be my younger sister’s first name! In the Pacific, hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 which means another hurricane like this could very well develop again. Tropical Storm Miriam developed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 2,000 miles east of the Hawaiian Islands, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It has winds of about 50 mph and was moving west at 14 mph as of Sunday, August 26th. The National Hurricane Center predicted that Miriam could strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane on Monday, August 27th. See Miriam’s position on the last part of the video plus a great sunset taken during the hurricane in Puako by my friend Ray Schimidt!!