The number of lightning strikes Friday morning on Oahu was, well, striking.
National Weather Service instruments detected 869 lightning strikes between 5 and 6 a.m. Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Genki Kino.
Kino said that the thunderstorms were not unusual, but the lightning was, most of it hitting Windward Oahu between Kaneohe and Punaluu.
“At one point there were 195 lightning strikes in a 15-minute period around
5 a.m.,” he said.
“We don’t keep records,” Kino said, so he could not say whether a record was set.
Oahu is drying out today from Friday’s thunderstorms, and Kauai, which got hit Friday afternoon into the night, is expected to be in the clear as well today.
Breezy tradewind weather should return today, with isolated showers mainly on Oahu’s Windward side.
The National Weather Service extended a flash flood warning through early Friday evening for Kauai as Kuhio Highway near the
Hanalei Bridge remained closed.
Hawaiian Electric Co. officials blamed the weather on Friday for HPOWER, among several generators, being offline or operating at minimal output. The lightning storm damaged transmission lines that carry power from two wind generating units, they said.
HECO asked its Oahu customers to conserve power during peak evening hours to prevent rolling blackouts.
Oahu’s west side got hit hardest with the Waianae Boat Harbor receiving
4.9 inches of total rainfall from 5 p.m. Thursday to
5 p.m. Friday, most of it on Friday morning.
The Weather Service received reports of flash flooding. The first was in Nanakuli at 4:12 a.m., with a foot of water across roadways in some places.
At 4:30 a.m. a trained spotter reported flash flooding in Waikiki with water ponding on the roadway.
