A powerful storm system pummeled Hawaii Thursday with flash flooding, damaging wind gusts, severe thunderstorms and blizzard-like conditions on the high mountain peaks.
The storm has left thousands without power, roads blocked by floods and fallen trees and grounded island air traffic.
Flash flood warnings persisted late into Thursday evening over Honolulu and into Friday morning for Maui and the Big Island. County offices in Maui were closed on Friday due to the downpours.
Crews across the state worked to reopen roads that were closed due to downed trees or flooding.
The Big Island declared a State of Emergency on Thursday afternoon.
Video from Honolulu showed heavy rain and urban flooding.
One Honolulu resident shared a video on social media of what looked to be a strong river that he said was normally a dry creek.
The city reported over 4 inches of rain on Thursday, but much heavier totals exceeding 6 inches were reported in the windward sides of the mountains across the island chain.
With the rain came strong, damaging wind gusts.
Lihue reported a gust of 64 mph Thursday and Oahu experienced winds gusting to around 63 mph.
Strong winds were seen partially blowing the shingles off a roof in Kaneohe, along the windward coast of Oahu.
According to FindEnergy.com, nearly 21,000 customers from across the Hawaiian islands were without power early Friday morning, down from a peak of nearly 50,000 at the height of the storms.
Hawaii issued a ground stop for all interisland flights on Thursday with four flights being diverted to Lihue, according to the Hawaii Department of Transportation.
The ground stop was lifted around 2:30 p.m. local time.
HDOT also reported downed trees and power outages that have affected traffic signals on the islands of Oahu, Maui and Kauai.
A rare Severe Thunderstorm Watch covered the islands of Kauai, Maui and Oahu into Thursday evening as thunderstorms brought frequent lightning and potentially damaging wind.
The winds were even higher – reaching well beyond hurricane force – along the mountain peaks.
A communications tower atop the summit of Maui’s Haleakala around 10,000 feet recorded a gust of 120 mph.
At least one rock slide was also reported on Maui, with a giant boulder blocking a travel lane of the Kahekili Highway.
The winds whipped up major waves on Kaimana Beach in Honolulu early Thursday afternoon.
Honolulu’s Mayor also signed a preemptive emergency declaration due to the weather.
Blizzard-like conditions atop Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa
What was a blistering rain and windstorm for much of the tropical paradise was a major winter storm for the BIg Island’s mountain peaks.
A Winter Storm Warning for the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa summits on the Big Island remains in effect through Saturday morning.
As much as 18-24 inches of snow will combine with winds gusting up to 85 mph will cause blizzard-like conditions, with blowing and drifting snow triggering whiteout conditions for anyone daring to venture to the mountain peaks.
The weather was calming down from west to east Friday as the storm moved off to the east and more typical Hawaii weather returns.
