Former Tropical Storm Gil drenched parts of Oahu on Friday night and Saturday, but began dissipating Saturday afternoon and was expected to leave the islands today, bringing drier conditions.
"We got away with two now," said National Weather Service forecaster Henry Lau, referring to former Tropical Storm Flossie, which as a tropical depression brought heavy rain but no damage to Maui on July 29.
"We had very generous rainfall," but there were no reports of flooding, he said.
The remnants of Gil brought steady light to moderate rain mainly to Windward Oahu from Friday night into Saturday, Lau said.
Strong tradewind weather is expected to replace Gil today, blowing especially strong over wind-prone areas in Maui and Hawaii counties. A small-craft advisory is in effect for waters around Maui and south of the Big Island.
Tropical Storm Henriette, right on Gil’s heels, was expected to pass far south of the islands, boosting the tradewinds through tonight, but without the clouds and showers. Gentler trades are due the rest of the week.
Henriette was 440 miles southeast of South Point on Hawaii island, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, moving westward at 21 mph, causing the weather service to issue an advisory 5 p.m. Saturday.
As for Henriette’s chances of affecting the state, Lau said: "I’m not sure. I think we’re OK for the next few days."
A low-pressure system about 1,300 miles east-southeast of the Big Island, moving west at 10 mph, was producing some showers, with a low chance of it becoming a tropical cyclone today or Monday.
Rainfall within a 24-hour period at 2 p.m. Saturday was up to 7 inches at the Oahu Forest Reserve, 6.57 inches in Olomana and 5.61 inches at the Wilson Tunnel.
Anahola, Wailua and Koloa on Kauai were predicted to get 1 to 2 inches of rain today, but the remaining islands weren’t expected to receive much precipitation.
Gil’s remnants produced isolated thunderstorms over windward waters of Oahu and Maui on Saturday. The weather service also reported a thunderstorm on the slopes of Mauna Kea sometime between 3 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
On Maui, a 51-year-old Texas man and his 11-year-old son felt the effects of Gil when they had to spend a cold, wet night Friday on a hiking trail in Iao Valley.
The Maui Fire Department suspended a ground search for the father and son at 8:20 p.m. Friday due to heavy rain and unsafe conditions.
Fire helicopter personnel tried to fly into the valley, but turned back due to poor weather conditions and low light.
The visitors, from Fort Worth, left the upper parking lot at 1:30 p.m. to look for a pond they had heard about. When they failed to return, the man’s wife reported them missing at 6:28 p.m.
The father and son, who had no cellphone or flashlights, were found unhurt but "very cold" at 6:50 a.m. Saturday, said Maui Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga. They were found 1.5 miles down the trail and were airlifted to safety by 7:15 a.m.
Back on Oahu, Hawaiian Electric Co. restored power Saturday to 900 customers on the North Shore. Power in the Sunset Beach area was out from 4 to 6:30 p.m. due to a problem with an underground cable, HECO spokesman Darren Pai said.
