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Kaua'i's 2018 Record-Setting Rain Caused by a Series of Supercell Thunderstorms

posted by hubie on Friday April 22 2022, @09:13AM   Printer-friendly
from the an-inch-of-rain-makes-a-foot-of-snow dept.
Science

upstart writes:

Thunderstorms, not a cyclone, were the source of Kaua'i's 2018 record-setting rain:

A record-setting rainstorm over Kaua'i, Hawai'i in April 2018 resulted in severe flash flooding and estimated damage of nearly $180 million. The deluge damaged or destroyed 532 homes, and landslides left people along Kaua'i's north coast without access to their homes. Atmospheric scientists have now revealed that severe supercell thunderstorms were to blame.

The rainstorm inundated some areas with nearly 50 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period, smashing the previous 24-hour U.S. rainfall record of 42 inches set in Texas in 1979. An interesting finding is that the rainstorm described in this paper was associated with a kona low and not a tropical cyclone as featured in previous U.S. rainfall records.

[...] "Updrafts with rotation are more intense and longer lived, and have been observed to produce large hail and tornados in Hawai'i," said Businger. "In this case, the updrafts were forced by Kaua'i's steep mountain cliffs, with the result that the thunderstorms were more vigorous and anchored to the terrain, thus setting a new US 24-hour rainfall record!"

[...] Although supercells thunderstorms are the least common type of thunderstorm in Hawaii, they have the greatest likelihood of producing severe weather, including large hail, tornados, and strong straight-line winds.

Journal Reference:
Terrence J. Corrigan, Steven Businger. The Anatomy of a Series of Cloud Bursts that Eclipsed the U.S. Rainfall Record, Monthly Weather Review, 2022,
DOI: 10.1175/MWR-D-21-0028.1

Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2022, @10:15AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2022, @10:15AM (#1238828)

    4 years to determine this?
    A this pace, we are sure to tackle climate issues?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 22 2022, @03:31PM (4 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday April 22 2022, @03:31PM (#1238860) Journal
      I imagine the real take is that if someone knowledgeable were to be told that this rainfall happened on Hawaii island, without more context they'd assume it was a big cyclone since those are relatively common and massive rainmakers. But it turns to have been a synergy between a supercell thunderstorm and the unusual topography of the island.

      As to the length of time, well research takes time. And publishing that research takes more time.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 22 2022, @03:34PM (3 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday April 22 2022, @03:34PM (#1238861) Journal
        Hmm, they're referring to the island of Kaua'i (paper [ametsoc.org]). The naming of the state after the largest island confused me.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 23 2022, @01:47AM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 23 2022, @01:47AM (#1238969)

          A khallow double post, must be a *checks title* climate change article!

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 23 2022, @05:04AM (1 child)

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 23 2022, @05:04AM (#1238979) Journal
            High drama on the internets! Well, who else around here corrects their posts when they realize they've made a mistake? You, right?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 23 2022, @09:35PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 23 2022, @09:35PM (#1239077)

              Hawaiʻ i, Kauaʻ i, tomato, tomato. khallow. Easily confused. Soft and fluffy. Von Mises.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2022, @07:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2022, @07:33PM (#1238916)

    I was witness to a similar event in Kihei. Normal rain in Kihei is around 15 inches per year. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent on that occasion:

    Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 2:18 AM
    ...Thought you'd like to know that in the past 24 hours, about 23 inches of rain has fallen in Kihei (as best I can find from internet sources). Since January the accumulated rainfall here has been somewhere near 2 inches. Then last night the sky opened up, and the lightning flashed and the thunder roared, and torrents of rain have fallen...

    The rest of the island of Maui got a lot less rainfall that day. It was a complete fluke - like a rogue wave in the sky.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2022, @07:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2022, @07:38PM (#1238918)

    when are we gonna see a SUPER supercell? or a super super SUPERcell for that matter?

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