08-13-2015, 11:01 AM
After being torn apart by the Subtropical Jet stream, what remains of Hilda has gotten caught up in the trade wind flow pushing the center far to the South. In it's wake there is a tremendous amount of moisture left laying around the Central Pacific from earlier convection from Hilda. Unfortunately a TUTT or tropical upper tropospheric trough is heading our way from the East.
If this gets here with the abundant moisture left laying around it will lead to torrential downpours and dew points will remain in the 70's and sticky, humid conditions will continue. There was hope that the passage of Hilda to the South would increase pressure gradients enough to blow the humid air to the SW and this may still happen on Fri. but after that the TUTT from the East will draw up moist air out of the South.
As a long time weather observer I get calls from the NWS asking about flooding here. I live at about 1500' elevation and the ground seems very porous to me and there have only been 2 times since I've moved here 7 years ago that I actually observed some flooding here at my location.
I know that others on this island face a greater flood risk than my area and The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is nearing the end of a multi-year effort to update and modernize the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for Hawai‘i County. The updated maps will help community officials and local residents better identify known flood risks and when finalized, will be used for flood insurance, land use and development decisions.
Personnel from FEMA, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Hawai‘i County will be available to answer questions, concerns, and provide information on the mapping timeline and appeals process. The meeting schedule is as follows:
Monday. August 17, 2015
Aupuni Center (101 Pauahi Street, Hilo 96720)
Doors open 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. presentation 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
West Hawai‘i Civic Center (75-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Bldg. G, Kailua Kona 96740)
Doors open 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. presentation 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
If you're unable to attend these meetings you can access some good info here (hopefully this is updated by tomorrow 8-14-2015);
http://gis.hawaiinfip.org/fhat/
Some models were predicting a worse case scenario if Hilda had stalled as it passed to our South with rainfall predicted to be in the upper third of all-time. The models have since backed off from this but the TUTT from the East could cause large amounts of rain to fall here. Fortunately at this time it looks like the heaviest rain will be North of the Big Island.
If this gets here with the abundant moisture left laying around it will lead to torrential downpours and dew points will remain in the 70's and sticky, humid conditions will continue. There was hope that the passage of Hilda to the South would increase pressure gradients enough to blow the humid air to the SW and this may still happen on Fri. but after that the TUTT from the East will draw up moist air out of the South.
As a long time weather observer I get calls from the NWS asking about flooding here. I live at about 1500' elevation and the ground seems very porous to me and there have only been 2 times since I've moved here 7 years ago that I actually observed some flooding here at my location.
I know that others on this island face a greater flood risk than my area and The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is nearing the end of a multi-year effort to update and modernize the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for Hawai‘i County. The updated maps will help community officials and local residents better identify known flood risks and when finalized, will be used for flood insurance, land use and development decisions.
Personnel from FEMA, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Hawai‘i County will be available to answer questions, concerns, and provide information on the mapping timeline and appeals process. The meeting schedule is as follows:
Monday. August 17, 2015
Aupuni Center (101 Pauahi Street, Hilo 96720)
Doors open 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. presentation 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
West Hawai‘i Civic Center (75-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Bldg. G, Kailua Kona 96740)
Doors open 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. presentation 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
If you're unable to attend these meetings you can access some good info here (hopefully this is updated by tomorrow 8-14-2015);
http://gis.hawaiinfip.org/fhat/
Some models were predicting a worse case scenario if Hilda had stalled as it passed to our South with rainfall predicted to be in the upper third of all-time. The models have since backed off from this but the TUTT from the East could cause large amounts of rain to fall here. Fortunately at this time it looks like the heaviest rain will be North of the Big Island.