As Hurricane Lowell approached the westernmost of the main Hawaiian Islands, heavy rainfall and strong winds were a major concern. In response, the Hawaiʻi Mesonet and Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal (HCDP) team at the University of Hawaiʻi created a new website to enable access to the most recent rainfall and wind speed data from Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations.
The 75 currently active stations in the network provide detailed up-to-date information on a wide range of weather variables. With Hurricane Lowell forecast to make a close approach to Niʻihau and Kauaʻi, interest was mainly on rainfall and wind speed. The new website provided up-to-date rainfall accumulation and maximum wind and wind gust speeds at Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations for the period starting September 7, 12:00 AM HST. Data was updated every 15 minutes.
“Events like Hurricane Lowell show us how important it is to have a dense network that covers all areas on each island.” said Tom Giambelluca, Hawaiʻi Mesonet project lead. “We urge everyone to pay close attention to updates from the and warnings issued by the and county (, , , ) and emergency management agencies.”
In addition to the new Hurricane Lowell website, the 糖心视频 team provided summaries of recent extreme weather events and maintained a real-time weather dashboard offering public access to live weather data from 75 monitoring stations currently active across the state. The dashboard updates data every 15 minutes, allowing users to view current, localized conditions including temperature, rainfall, wind, humidity, solar radiation and soil moisture. This creates one of the most comprehensive and timely weather resources available in Hawaiʻi.