You might not want to put that umbrella away yet

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

It may have been sunny in most areas across the state yesterday, but forecasters say the potential for heavy showers remains and they could start at the drop of a hat.

National Weather Service lead forecaster Jeff Powell said heavy rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast for today, although conditions should improve by tonight.

Powell said thunderstorms similar in intensity to Tuesday's heavy rains remain a possibility.

"The ingredients are still out there. Very little has changed in the environment," he said of the upper-level low that is conducive to thunderstorms. "That's the fuel waiting for a trigger."

There were brief thunderstorms over Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island, but nothing like Tuesday's storm, Powell said. Most of the intense showers that occurred yesterday were over the ocean, he said.

Tuesday's brief but intense storm caught many residents by surprise. The rain flooded roadways, caused a mudslide on the H-1 Freeway in Liliha, knocked out power to thousands of Hawaiian Electric Co. customers, and was listed a factor in a traffic accident on the H-2 Freeway that killed a 62-year-old woman.

The Tuesday storm also brought rare hailstones, the size of small grapes, over Kane'ohe and in the Olinda area of Maui.

"Hail is uncommon here, and hail a half-inch (across) is very uncommon," Powell said. "There's a lot of warm air to fall through before it hits the ground."

Moisture from Tuesday's storm is blamed for causing an underground electric cable to explode at the 3000 block of Ala 'Ilima Street and dislodge a manhole cover, said HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa. About 2,300 customers were without power for about an hour in the midafternoon.