Ok, you are probably tired of my slightly technical blogs by now, so here I will tell you a story, one that has stuck with me for the past 35 years! The last 24 hours and even today the Hawaiian Islands have been affected by what is called locally there a "Kona Storm", otherwise known by us tropical meteorologists as a subtropical cyclone. I have written a blog on Kona Storms in the past, check this link out if you care to read about one.
So what's the big deal you ask? Well every Kona Storm is special to me. Yes, it all started back in January 1973. Let's roll back 35 years to a guy who was a sharp student, a fast runner and an avid surfer living in Southern California and haunting the Huntington Beach pier every day after high school let out and all weekend surfing somewhere between the Mexico/California border and Point Conception. Yes if there was a surf spot in that 200 or so mile stretch of coastline I have been there!
I had gone to Hawaii on vacation (the biggest of my life) with my parents and between surfing at Waikiki and site-seeing I decided to run up to the University of Hawaii from Waikiki to look around, its only a few miles. The first spot I saw as I ran up University Avenue was the pink Tartan running track so I headed in that direction.
There were runners training on the track along with an older man, Dr. Tracy, the track coach timing them. At the time I had no clue he was the UH track coach. I thought it might be fun to run some intervals around the track with these guys working out, so it did so...from the outside lane. After about 10 intervals I decided I'd continue up to the campus. But before I could leave Dr. Tracy came up introduced himself, and said he was impressed by my running and said they were having a track meet the following day and I was invited to run in it.
The next day I showed up for the track meet, ran barefooted because I had only cloggy training shoes with me. Well I won that 800 meter race and Dr. Tracy offered me a scholarship to the University of Hawaii. Wow, talk about luck, vacation to scholarship in two days. So off I went a few months later to Hawaii for college. I started as a pre-med student, but then fell more in love with atmosphere science. You know the outcome.
Shortly after I arrived in Hawaii I heard someone talking about "the Kona Storm" coming, with no clue what that was I paid no attention at least until it began to rain, and rain and rain. I had never seen it rain so hard for so long. At times rain fell at a rate of 2-3 inches per hour or more mixed with nearly 48 hours of continuous rain. At times the rain was so heavy you could not see from one campus building to another.
I was amazed that every bird in Hawaii had temporarily vanished; to this day I don't know where they went during that deluge! Beautiful Hawaii was temporarily transformed into a deadly flash flood haven. Streams and rivers quickly filled and overflowed, flooding homes and businesses.
The bright red-orange iron-rich topsoil in the mountains quickly melted into mud that drained from the slopes onto the University campus, staining anyone's clothes that dared venture into the water. The running track soon filled with more than 6 feet of standing water; that entire area became a huge lake.
I remember riding my bike from the campus to the dorm and could barely keep my bike upright as the streets pour out water at times 6-10 inches deep over the curbs; water tried its best to take my wheels right out from under me.
Yes, I was in the middle of a strong, prolonged Kona Storm in Hawaii! It was not the first or last in Hawaii, but one I will never forget. I was thankful that all the possessions I had were a few cloths, a surfboard and a bike, the only things I had that could be damage by water were the few textbooks I had just bought, and I managed to keep them dry.
Many others were not so lucky. Finally, after I had thought it impossible for this wicked rain to ever stop, it ceased quickly, the sun came out, the humid south and southwest Kona winds were quickly replaced by fair weather trade winds Hawaii is noted for and all the birds miraculously reappeared. The lush tropical landscape and all that was native to Hawaii glowed as if to say thank you, while it seemed to me that nearly everything man-made was affected, damaged or partly destroyed.
Well other Kona Storms came and went will I lived in Hawaii, but none seemed as strong to me as the first one I saw. And though I now live in Atlanta GA, a Kona Storm is visiting Hawaii today and my memories of 35 years ago are like yesterday.
Below I show you a 24-hour rainfall map of Oahu for December 11th (from the National Weather Service in Hawaii), all from this Kona Storm. The numbers are in 100ths of an inch, so divide by 100 and you will have 24-hour rainfall in inches. Some areas have seen more than 13 inches of rain in 24 hours, it looks like the University of Hawaii got about 7 inches of rain.
Yes, flooding came to Hawaii with this Kona Storm and rains persist again today, flash flood watches are still up, but this one will not compare with "my Kona Storm." Don't worry, if you are planning a trip to Hawaii, I can promise blue skies and trade winds will return to paradise soon.
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