Tropical Depression Cosme bypassed the Big Island yesterday, causing intermittent heavy showers but no major problems.

"There was some nuisance flooding. Nothing out of the ordinary," said Wes Browning, director of operations for the National Weather Service in Honolulu. "The core of the system never moved anywhere close to the island."

The depression — the year's first Pacific tropical storm before it weakened earlier this week — dumped 3 to 5 inches of rain in spots over six hours as it moved near the Big Island late Friday. Flash-flood watches were posted, but the storm was moving quickly. By yesterday morning, it was 350 miles southwest of Hilo and moving away at about 20 mph.

Ian Morrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said small remnants of the storm will likely be seen through this morning. The windward sides of Maui and O'ahu are expected to get more rain than usual, and brisker winds.

The winds will diminish to about 20 mph by this afternoon.

Browning said yesterday that Cosme was a perfect storm — in a good way: It brought much-needed rain to parched areas of the Big Island, and was only responsible for minor flooding.

"We've had a pretty severe drought," he said. "Some areas have only received about 20 percent of normal yearly rainfall."

Cosme was a tropical storm Monday when it was upgraded to hurricane status as its winds intensified to 75 to 80 mph.

But it was downgraded to a tropical storm the next morning, then further weakened to a tropical depression.