Flood Watch Extended for Maui

Satellite imagery for March 30, 2014, courtesy NOAA/NWS.

By Wendy Osher

The threat of thunderstorms and rains remain a possibility for Maui through today, prompting an extension of a flash flood watch until 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Over the last 24-hour period ending at 5 a.m., the National Weather Service recorded: 2.09 inches of rain at Puʻu Kukui; 1.07 inches in Kula; and more than a half of an inch of rain at Kahakuloa and the Kaupō Gap.

NWS forecasters say a strong low aloft, combined with a surface trough, will continue to bring threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms and conditions that lead to flash flooding.

The unstable conditions are forecast to produce “slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms.”

“While heavy rain is not expected to be widespread, localized intense rainfall is likely to occur, potentially leading to flash flooding in streams and urban areas,” the forecast stated.

The Big Island of Hawaiʻi is also under a flash flood watch for the same period.