Hurricane ANA mainly rain event for Maui County

Satellite, 11:00 a.m. HST, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014, courtesy NOAA/NWS.

By Meteorologist Malika Dudley

**This post has been updated with the latest Hurricane Ana information released by the NWS at 1 p.m. Oct. 19, 2014**

The latest update on Tropical Storm ANA was just released by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Ana is slightly weaker Category 1 Hurricane with 75 mph maximum sustained winds. Ana is moving W near 6 mph, with hurricane force winds extending 10 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extending 105 miles from the center. This motion is expected to continue through the next 48 hours, with some increase in forward speed on Monday.

The center of Tropical Storm Ana was last located near 20.7 N and 160.6 W, about 370 miles WNW of Hilo, Hawaiʻi; 270 miles W of Kahului, Maui; 220 miles W of Kaunakakai, Molokaʻi; 240 miles W of Lānaʻi City; and 180 miles WSW of Honolulu, Oʻahu on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014 at 9 a.m. Ana is expected to weaken to just below hurricane strength tonight through Tuesday, but is expected to remain a strong tropical storm.

Kihei, Maui at 11pm, Image: Malika Dudley

Summary of Alerts for Maui County:

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH is posted through 6 p.m.

TROPICAL STORM WATCH no longer in effect for Maui County.

HIGH SURF ADVISORY posted for south facing shores of Maui, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi, north-facing shores of Maui and north & west-facing shores of Molokaʻi.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY posted for coastal waters surrounding Maui.

Satellite, 7:30 a.m. HST, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014, courtesy NOAA/NWS.

Current Forecast Guidance: 

Rainfall has been steady across Maui county with pop-up thunderstorms. We expect severe weather conditions to slowly taper off as the system continues to move away from us. Strong gusty winds are possible in any heavier showers or thunderstorms.

Timing: Rainy conditions are expected into Sunday.

Wind: Winds 15 – 30 mph

Rain: Rainfall of 3 to 8 inches is possible across Maui County. Bands of heavy rainfall associated with Ana will move over the smaller islands from Maui to Niʻihau today. Rainfall will gradually diminish over Maui county today.

Surf: Surf heights are expected from 10 to 15 feet along north facing shores of Molokaʻi and Maui, 8 to 12 feet along west facing shores of Molokaʻi, 6 to 10 feet along south facing shores of Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe and Maui.