Tropical Storm Nolo is approaching Hawaiʻi and is likely to bring heavy, potentially flood-causing rainfall and high winds, especially to Hawaiʻi Island.

The Hawaiʻi Mesonet – Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal (HCDP) team at the University of Hawaiʻi has launched a new website that provides easy access to up-to-date rainfall and wind observations from Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations across the state.

Tropical Storm Nolo Viewer

“The goal is to make the observations collected by the Hawaiʻi Mesonet readily accessible during the storm, so that people can quickly see where rainfall and strong winds are occurring and how conditions are changing over time,” said Matt Lucas, who, along with Cherryle Manzano, developed the Nolo weather tracker.

The website provides two tools for monitoring the storm:

• Current storm conditions: A map at the top of the page allows users to view either cumulative rainfall (current storm total) or maximum wind gust speed at Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations. Selecting an individual station brings up graphs showing rainfall and wind speed over time.
• Storm evolution: An animated map at the bottom of the page displays either 1-hour rainfall or maximum hourly wind gust velocity at all Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations. Users can select a specific hour to examine conditions at that time or play the map as an animation to visualize the chronology of the storm and how rainfall and wind conditions change over time.

The tracker provides observations from Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations and is intended to offer a straightforward way for residents, emergency managers, researchers, media and others to monitor observed rainfall and wind conditions as Tropical Storm Nolo approaches and moves through Hawaiʻi.

A preliminary Kauaʻi Community College student impact survey shows Hurricane Lowell affected 80% of students鈥� ability to participate in classes or complete coursework. Many are struggling to prioritize education while addressing basic needs, home damage, caregiving, emotional exhaustion, utility disruptions and financial strain.

To support students, faculty and staff, Kauaʻi CC hosted a hurricane recovery event on Wednesday. Dominos Pizza donated 50 pizzas for attendees, who connected with campus and community resources, including Kauaʻi United Way and Catholic Charities. Students also received assistance applying for emergency aid, connected with mental health counselors from Kapiʻolani Community College and Honolulu Community College, and had an opportunity to visit the college鈥檚 new sensory room.

• The college has developed for students, faculty, staff and the community, which is being updated regularly.

A week or more without electricity

Second-year nursing student Stephanie Cram, a single mother, spent a week without electricity while her daughter鈥檚 daycare was closed.

“For me, the biggest challenge was adapting to continuing my education while not having power for a whole week,” Cram said. “We had an exam scheduled for the Monday of the week we returned back to school, and I had no way to study, and my daughter鈥檚 daycare closed because they didn鈥檛 have power. Navigating through having fewer resources, like not having a fridge and worrying about school, caused me a lot of stress and anxiety.”

Classmate Kelsea Carrasco went nine days without power in Hanalei. Cram brought her a generator, gas, water and Starlink internet.

“It was a big deal for us to have somebody that I鈥檝e only known for a few months reach out and be so generous,” Carrasco said.

She added, “The most amazing thing that came out of it was the community aspect. Our neighbors checked on us every day and brought water, food and ice.”

Immediate support

Kauaʻi CC Chancellor Margaret Sanchez said the recovery event was designed to provide immediate support while the college continues gathering information about the storm鈥檚 impact on students.

“Instructors have been very flexible in supporting our students academically, but we鈥檙e also supporting our students with their basic needs and meeting them where they are,” Sanchez said. “We鈥檙e really lucky that we have our Hale M膩lama program on our campus, which provides students with wraparound services, mental health counseling, and a campus food and goods pantry.”

Kauaʻi CC provided students with a hot lunch on the first day back on campus as well as during the recovery resource event. Additional hot meals are being planned. Staff and faculty are also assisting maintenance crews with the continued clean-up efforts on campus.

—By Caitlin B. Fowlkes

Hurricane Lowell鈥檚 close passage west of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau brought damaging winds, heavy rainfall with more than 23 inches recorded on Mount Waiʻaleʻale, and dangerous surf. To understand the storm’s full impact, a University of Hawaiʻi team reconstructed Hurricane Lowell hour by hour across Kauaʻi and the state using observations from the Hawaiʻi Mesonet, a statewide network of weather stations, alongside experimental high-resolution mapping tools.

Users can visit the newly launched Hurricane Lowell website to explore interactive wind and rainfall maps, station observations and satellite storm replays.

The most striking weather signal during the storm was the wind. At Līhuʻe Airport, the highest measured hourly average wind speed reached 56 mph late on September 7. However, because 碍补耻补ʻ颈鈥檚 weather stations are concentrated primarily at lower elevations, experimental high-resolution modeling was used to estimate conditions across remote terrain. The models suggest that winds over exposed high-elevation ridges were much stronger, locally exceeding 100 mph as the island鈥檚 steep topography accelerated airflow over ridges and through valleys.

Rainfall on Windward Oahu, Mount Waiʻaleʻale, Kauaʻi’s north shore

Rainfall across the western islands was also substantial throughout the event. On September 6, rainfall amounts of 5 inches or more along the Koʻolau Ridge sent flood waters down Waikāne and Waiahole Valleys on Oʻahu, forcing the closure of Kamehameha Highway.

On September 7, nearly all of Kauaʻi received more than 2 inches of rain, with many areas exceeding 5 inches. High-elevation and north shore sensors show Mount Waiʻaleʻale recorded more than 23 inches of rain on September 7, accumulating nearly 36 inches over the full three-day storm period. Meanwhile, on 碍补耻补ʻ颈鈥檚 north shore, where rising river waters forced the closure of Hanalei Bridge, the Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations at Waipā and Lower Limahuli recorded more than 14 and 17 inches of rainfall, respectively, during the storm.

Coastal impacts and interactive storm replay

The report also references information from Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) on the significant coastal hazards brought by the storm. Large surf and storm surge impacted south- and west-facing shores of Kauaʻi as the hurricane tracked to the west.

To make these complex meteorological observations accessible to the public and emergency responders, the 糖心视频 team launched a dedicated Hurricane Lowell website. The site features interactive graphics that allow users to follow Lowell鈥檚 winds and rainfall through time, compare ground station observations with mapped estimates, and replay the storm using Hawaiʻi Mesonet measurements integrated with Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-West satellite imagery.

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.

Almost two million Olympic-size pools of water (1.3 trillion gallons) inundated Hawaiʻi August 14–16, as Hurricane Lala tracked just south of the islands. Delivering one of the state’s most significant tropical cyclone impacts in decades, the storm triggered severe flash flooding and damaging winds. Through the University of 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 Hawaiʻi Mesonet and the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal (HCDP), researchers captured the massive scale of this storm.

While Lala never made an official landfall, its close pass as a Category 1 hurricane brought average statewide rainfall of 11.4 inches. Hawaiʻi County received 66% of the total rainfall volume—equivalent to 1.2 million pools (833 billion gallons).

Naʻalehu flash flooding and station records

Communities such as Naʻalehu on Hawaiʻi Island experienced devastating inundation from flash flooding. Hawaiʻi Mesonet stations highlighted the extreme localized intensity of the storm: the Laupahoehoe station in Hamakua recorded a daily maximum rainfall of 32.1 inches on August 15. Almost simultaneously, the Kaiholena station, located upslope of the Naʻalehu area, recorded 24.4 inches, including a remarkable 4.4 inches of rain in a single hour, 7:30–8:30 p.m. This was the highest observed hourly rainfall rate in the state during the entire three-day event. Combined with steep mountain slopes, this intense rainfall resulted in flash flooding that severely impacted the community in Naʻalehu.

As the storm progressed, the rest of the counties experienced their peak rainfall a day later, on August 16. While their totals were lower than Hawaiʻi Island’s, they still saw substantial averages: Maui County recorded a cumulative 6.6 inches of rain, equivalent to 203,595 pools (134 million gallons). Honolulu County (Oʻahu) recorded 5.5 inches of rain, equivalent to 86,357 pools (57 million gallons), and Kauaʻi County recorded 3.1 inches, equivalent to 45,055 pools (29 million gallons).

“Storms like Lala remind us why sustained, high-quality rainfall measurement matters so much in Hawaiʻi,” said Tom Giambelluca, director of the Hawaiʻi Mesonet. “Our terrain can turn the same storm into a 2-inch event in one valley and a 40-inch event a few miles away—without a dense network like the Mesonet, we’d have no way to capture that difference or understand what actually happened on the ground.”

Strong winds and dangerous gusts

The storm also unleashed high winds, with station-derived hourly wind speeds peaking at 60 mph on Hawaiʻi Island. Strong winds were also measured on Maui (56 mph), Oʻahu (39 mph) and Kauaʻi which led to downed power lines and fallen trees across the islands. Wind gusts of 80 mph were recorded at Puʻuloa in Kohala, and up to 79 mph on Haleakalā. Researchers expect that wind gusts were even more intense in some areas that do not have a climate station.

“One of the biggest challenges with wind is that we simply don’t have stations everywhere, especially at higher elevations and in remote terrain,” said Matt Lucas, HCDP product development lead. “Newly developed high-resolution wind speed maps let us estimate conditions in the gaps between stations, especially in extreme terrain where winds can be accelerated 2–4 times by landscape effects. This means disaster responders, property owners, and land managers aren’t left guessing about what happened in places where we didn’t have a station.”

The Hawaiʻi Mesonet, a statewide network of state-of-the-art weather stations, provides critical weather information across the islands giving a birds eye view into the data behind extreme weather events. Using observations from the Hawaiʻi Mesonet and digital maps produced on the HCDP maps, the team has released a new interactive website documenting the weather impacts of Hurricane Lala. 糖心视频 the HCDP Extreme Event Page to explore new interactive rainfall and wind speed maps as well as station data from the event. End users can sort information by county and for each day of the storm.

Intense tropical cyclones (maximum wind speed greater than 131 miles per hour) are one of the most devastating natural disasters in the world due to torrential rains, flooding, destructive winds and coastal storm surges. New public impact research co-authored by a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa atmospheric scientist revealed that since the 1980s, category 4 and 5 hurricanes (equivalent to intense tropical cyclones) have been arriving three to four days earlier with each passing decade of climate change. The findings were published in .

“When intense tropical cyclones occur earlier than usual, they cause unexpected problems for communities,” said Pao-Shin Chu, atmospheric sciences professor in the 糖心视频 Mānoa and Hawaiʻi State Climatologist. “Moreover, the earlier advance of these storms will overlap with other weather systems, for example local thunderstorms or seasonal summer monsoon rainfall, and can produce compounding extreme events and strain the emergency response.”

Changes in many characteristics of severe hurricanes under a warming climate, for example, the number, intensity and lifespan, are fairly well-studied. However, little is known about changes in the seasonal cycle of these events.

Using satellite data, historical tropical cyclone tracks, NOAA rainfall records and various statistical methods, Chu and co-authors found that there has been a significant shift of these intense tropical cyclones from autumn to summer months since the 1980s in most tropical oceans. The effect was particularly observed in the eastern North Pacific off the coast of Mexico, where most hurricanes near Hawaiʻi come from; the western North Pacific; the South Pacific; the Gulf of Mexico; and the Atlantic coast of Florida and the Caribbean.

“It was surprising to consistently see earlier arrivals when we independently assessed satellite data and conventional ground-based observations of intense tropical cyclones,” said Chu.

Extreme rainfall, flooding

In August 2017, for example, Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 hurricane, made landfall on Texas and Louisiana and inflicted catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. Hurricane Lane is another example. Lane was a category 5 hurricane and occurred in August 2018. Lane brought very high rainfall and fire to Hawaiʻi Island and fire to Maui.

The potential for simultaneous occurrence with other high-impact weather events should be a serious concern for the society.

Using simulations from high-resolution climate models, the team detected warmer oceanic conditions developed earlier, which favored the earlier onset of intense tropical cyclones. Further, they found that the ocean warming was primarily driven by greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

“In a future with high carbon dioxide emissions, the earlier shifting trend is projected to be amplified,” said Chu.

In South China and the Gulf of Mexico, the earlier onset of intense tropical cyclones contributes significantly to an earlier onset of extreme rainfall.

“Given the seasonal advance of intense tropical cyclones, as shown in this study, the potential for simultaneous occurrence with other high-impact weather events should be a serious concern for the society,” said Chu. “Understanding potential changes in hurricane activity in response to global warming is important for disaster prevention, resource management and community preparedness.”

–By Marcie Grabowski

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (DPS) is kicking off the school year with a variety of free online safety workshops to help students and employees stay safe on campus. These training sessions include Active Shooter Awareness and Response, Hurricane Preparedness, and Conflict Resolution and De-escalation training.

Training sessions

• Active Shooter Awareness and Response (75 min): Provides information on various active shooter scenarios, what you can do to keep yourself safe, and what to expect when police and DPS respond. This training uses concepts from the Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 Run-Hide-Fight program.
• Hurricane Preparedness (75 min): Learn about how to prepare for a hurricane in Hawaiʻi, including tips for preparing an emergency kit, what to do when a hurricane is approaching, and how to find a local shelter or shelter-in-place.
• Conflict Resolution and De-escalation (75 minutes): Learn about precipitating factors to conflict, signs of agitation, and discuss verbal and nonverbal de-escalation techniques. In addition, we discuss how to end the de-escalation process, and what to do when de-escalation isn鈥檛 possible. Recommended for faculty and staff.
• Safety and Wellness (1 hour): Learn about services offered by DPS, discuss safety tips for both on and off-campus, learn about common crime prevention measures that can be taken to increase safety on campus, and engage with DPS staff to have your safety questions answered.

To view dates and times, or register for a session, please visit the . All training sessions listed above are provided to any group by request. You can request a session through the Workshops and Training Sessions page.

June 1 kicks off hurricane season. The recently released its annual forecast for the season. They anticipate two to five tropical cyclones for the Central Pacific region.

While the forecast is lower than last year, it is important to prepare now.

“As we have experienced in previous hurricane seasons, it only takes one direct hit, or even a close call, to have a major impact on daily life here in the Hawaiian Islands,” said Chris Brenchley, director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 . “Take time to prepare now. Make a preparedness plan so that you and your family stay healthy and safe.”

Hurricane season in Hawaiʻi occurs roughly between June 1 and November 30.

The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency has a page with .

University of Hawaiʻi community members can take part in virtual Hurricane Preparedness Workshops throughout the summer. 糖心视频 the site to register.

糖心视频 resources:

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for 糖心视频 Alert to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that contact information is up-to-date.

There is also the Disaster Alert desktop version and app ( | ) with updated information.

Hawaiʻi created a great one-stop resource for disasters in the .

Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the emergency information webpage, as well as on social media:

Global warming will intensify landfalling tropical cyclones of a category three or higher in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, while suppressing the formation of weaker events. In Hawaiʻi, model simulations show a doubling of the risk of landfalling tropical cyclones, if CO2 concentrations double. That鈥檚 according to a study published in and co-authored by Malte Stuecker, assistant professor of in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

Tropical cyclones, including typhoons and hurricanes, are the most fatal and costliest weather disasters on our planet. But how tropical cyclones will change in response to global warming has long remained a mystery.

To address this question, scientists for more than two decades have used the world鈥檚 largest supercomputers to run climate model simulations that show important aspects of these destructive storms. However, until recently the computing power has been insufficient to capture both atmospheric details and resolve the full interaction with the ocean on a global scale.

A team of scientists, led by researchers at South Korea鈥檚 Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University, recently completed one of the most computing-intensive and detailed global warming simulations to date using the supercomputer Aleph at IBS. The global climate model records small-scale atmospheric and oceanic processes with unprecedented resolution. The model also more accurately simulates ocean temperature than the previous generation of climate models.

“This improvement was important for a realistic simulation of typhoons in the Indian and Pacific Ocean,” said Jung-Eun Chu, lead author of the study and a project leader at the ICCP.

Hawaiʻi ocean temperatures fuel tropical cyclones

While tropical cyclone numbers are simulated to decrease in the deep tropics, the situation is slightly different for Hawaiʻi, which is located at the edge of the tropics. Hawaiʻi is typically protected from tropical cyclones due strong northeasterly trade winds that flow in the opposite direction than the westerly winds aloft in the upper atmosphere. This so-called “vertical wind shear” normally tears tropical cyclones apart that approach the islands. In response to climate change, this wind shear is simulated to weaken and ocean temperatures are projected to warm near Hawaiʻi—fueling tropical cyclones.

“Our new model simulations show an approximate doubling of the risk of landfalling tropical cyclones in Hawaiʻi if CO2 concentrations are doubled” said Stuecker. “Importantly, the impacts of landfalling tropical cyclones will be much more severe due to higher rainfall and increasing sea level. Flood risk and storm surge will be much intensified in coastal areas.”

For more information see .

—By Marcie Grabowski

About lives in a coastal area. In Hawaiʻi, nearly everyone is vulnerable to the effects of tropical storms and hurricanes. Tropical cyclones, regionally known as hurricanes or typhoons, have been moving across ocean basins faster since 1982, according to a study led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers, published in .

The study, led by Sung-Hun Kim, a post-doctoral researcher in the 糖心视频 Mānoa (SOEST) at the time of the work, also determined the North Atlantic region has experienced an increase in the frequency of hurricanes and that tropical cyclone activity has shifted toward the poles in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The researchers, including Pao-Shin Chu, an professor in SOEST, focused on tropical cyclones since 1982, when modern, reliable satellite data became available. They assessed the frequency and locations of storms and trends in tropical cyclone movement speed鈥攈ow quickly a storm moves forward鈥攇lobally and regionally in each ocean basin.

“For people in Hawaiʻi, the threat of hurricanes is always there every year,” said Chu. “If hurricanes move faster, they would pose danger to coastal communities and emergency managers because they would have less time to prepare for evacuation and other measures.”

The study suggests the reason for the observed changes is a combination of natural variations and human-induced climate change. The researchers continue to study the trends and connections between climate variability and tropical cyclone activity.

–By Marcie Grabowski

Located within the most isolated archipelago in the world, Hawaiʻi is critically dependent on a clean, ample supply of fresh water. led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa scientists indicates that rain brought to the islands by hurricanes and Kona storms can often be the most important precipitation for re-supplying groundwater in many regions of Oʻahu.

“The majority of 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 freshwater comes from groundwater,” said Daniel Dores, lead author and groundwater and geothermal researcher in the 糖心视频 Mānoa (SOEST). “In this study, we investigated the relationship between trade wind showers, major rainfall events like Kona storms, and groundwater.”

Dores and a team of scientists from SOEST and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health collected rainfall around Oʻahu and analyzed the stable isotopes of rainwater, chemical signatures in the water molecules. They compared the chemical signatures in rainwater to those of groundwater to determine the source of water in the aquifers鈥攅vent-based rainfall or trade wind-related rain.

“Because windward and mauka showers are so common, it is easy to assume that is the main source of our drinking water,” said Dores. “Also, large rainfall events such as Kona storms result in significant runoff into the oceans. However, our research found that a lot of the rain from Kona storms makes it into our groundwater aquifers and is an important source of our drinking water.”

Hawaiʻi is experiencing substantial weather patterns, and precipitation events could become more extreme. Co-authors will continue researching to understand more about local and regional groundwater recharge and water quality.

“By better understanding how our groundwater is impacted by these extreme precipitation events, we can better protect the resource itself,” said Dores.

–By Marcie Grabowski

Hurricane Lane was an impactful event for the Hawaiian Islands. In August 2018, over a four-day period, Hawaiʻi Island received an average of 17 inches of rainfall, with a four-day single-station maximum of 57 inches, making Hurricane Lane the wettest tropical cyclone ever recorded in Hawaiʻi. , led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers, details the compounding hazards—fire and rain—produced by the storm.

“In this study, we document what we believe to be the first instance of a hurricane causing both heavy rainfall and contributing to multiple instances of fire simultaneously,” said Alison Nugent, lead author of the study and assistant professor of in 糖心视频 惭ā苍辞补鈥檚 (SOEST).

A team of 糖心视频 Mānoa and East-West Center scientists analyzed multiple aspects of the storm鈥檚 meteorology and climatology, the environmental conditions leading up to the storm, and documented the associated societal impacts.

They found that land-use characteristics and preceding moisture conditions exacerbated fire hazards, and both fire and rain severity were influenced by the hurricane environment and local topographic features. Conditions at the edge of the storm resulted in dry windy weather conducive to fire, while closer to the storm center, the incredibly moist atmosphere lifted by 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 mountains brought intense, long-lasting rainfall. The simultaneous occurrence of rain-driven flooding and landslides, strong winds and multiple fires complicated the emergency response.

贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 vulnerability

The vulnerability of a population in any given location to the impacts of tropical cyclone hazards is determined by a multitude of interacting factors. Biophysical aspects include distance inland from the coast, terrain slope, coastal ecosystem integrity and land surface cover. Socioeconomic factors include infrastructure quality, the availability of early warning systems, and capacity for evacuation and emergency response.

“The surprising thing about Hurricane Lane was that, despite never making landfall, the storm caused considerable damage and disruptions across the state from two rather contradictory things: fire and rain,” said Nugent. “Severe flooding on the windward side of Hawaiʻi Island built over several days, and multiple fires initiated on the leeward sides of Maui and Oʻahu within hours of each other. Hurricane Lane is one of only three documented cases of hurricanes influencing wildland fire risk in real-time.”

Ryan Longman with the East-West Center; Clay Trauernicht, Matthew Lucas, Henry Diaz and Thomas Giambelluca with 糖心视频 Mānoa are also co-authors on the study. This work was partially supported through the National Science Foundation EPSCoR project, ʻIke Wai.

For more see .

—By Marcie Grabowski

The Honolulu Forecast Office predicted a quieter 2020 hurricane season with two to six tropical cyclones in the Central Pacific region.

Forecasters predict this season will have a 75 percent chance of being a lower than normal season. The cyclones include tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.

Hurricane season in Hawaiʻi occurs roughly between June 1 and November 30. Now is the time to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the possibility of storms affecting the islands.

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to prepare for a hurricane, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Public Safety (DPS) is offering via Zoom in June and July. Hosted by DPS Emergency Management Coordinator Jimmy Lagunero, the session covers:

• Hawaiʻi Watch and Warning systems
• Tips for preparing an emergency kit
• What to do when a hurricane is coming
• How to find a local hurricane shelter or shelter-in-place
• COVID-19 considerations and how they may affect hurricane preparation
• Resources and information about local and government agencies

This training is open to 糖心视频 employees and students from all 10 campuses. Space is limited, so those who are interested should sign up soon. Find more information about training workshops offered by .

More resources

The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency has pages with great tips and resources:

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that your contact information is up-to-date.

There is also the Pacific Disaster Center鈥檚 desktop version and app () with updated information. Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the emergency information webpage, as well as on social media:

• 糖心视频 emergency information website

The National Weather Service Honolulu Forecast Office today released its and now is the time to start preparing for the upcoming months.

Forecasters predict this season will have a 70 percent chance of being a higher than normal season with the likelihood of five to eight tropical cyclones in the Central Pacific. These include tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.

“This outlook reflects the forecast for El Niño to likely continue through the hurricane season. Also, ocean temperatures in the main hurricane formation region are expected to remain above-average, and vertical wind shear is predicted to be weaker-than-average,” said Gerry Bell, NOAA鈥檚 lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center, which collaborated on this outlook. Bell added, “All of these conditions point to an above-normal season.”

Hurricane season in Hawaiʻi occurs roughly between June 1 and November 30.

Last year, Hurricane Lane dumped up to 50 inches of rain and caused damage to parts of Hawaiʻi Island and Maui. University of Hawaiʻi campuses were forced to close.

“As we prepare for another active hurricane season in the central Pacific, we urge everyone to have an emergency plan now, so that you are ready for the devastating impacts that a tropical cyclone could bring to the State of Hawaiʻi,” said Chris Brenchley, director of NOAA鈥檚 Central Pacific Hurricane Center. “It is essential that you know where and how to get official information, even in the event of a power failure, and that you have your emergency supply kit ready well before any storms threaten.”

The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency has great tips and resources:

糖心视频 resources:

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for 糖心视频 Alert to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that contact information is up-to-date.

There is the Pacific Disaster Center鈥檚 Disaster Alert and app () with updated information.

Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the emergency information webpage, as well as on social media:

糖心视频 emergency information website

Individual campus websites will provide campus-specific information during an emergency.

As the climate changes over the coming decades, the northward shift of hurricanes toward the Hawaiian Islands will increase the chance of landfall and pose severe flood risks to populations and infrastructure along the coast and further inland, says a recent study led by researchers at the (SOEST).

Tropical cyclones are usually weakened or deflected to the south when approaching the Hawaiian Islands, due to the high-pressure system to the northeast, strong wind shear and relatively low sea-surface temperature in surrounding waters.

But by synthesizing information from computer models for climate change, hurricane formation and intensity, storm surge and waves, lead author , ocean wave model systems specialist in the (ORE) at SOEST, and co-authors estimated future vulnerability to combined effects of sea-level rise and closer hurricane approach.

Assessing impacts of critical storms

“Of the nearly 2,500 future scenarios in our study, we selected 24 critical storm events that track near the islands to assess the probability of coastal flooding and created detailed flood maps with 100-, 200- and 500-year return periods,” said Li. “With high tide and the projected sea-level rise, the modeling results from a direct landfall of an Iniki-like hurricane on the south shore of Oʻahu showed extensive inundation of downtown Honolulu and Waikīkī. Other hurricanes passing near Oʻahu can also produce severe surge and high surf, causing coastal flooding.”

“The findings of our study were not a surprise,” added , senior author on the study and professor in ORE. “Our recent experience with increasing number of storms tracking closer to the islands—Hurricane Guillermo in 2015, Hurricanes Celia, Darby and Lester in 2016, and Hurricanes Lane and Olivia in 2018—has already confirmed the change of hurricane patterns. The damage caused by Hurricanes Lane and Olivia underscores the importance and urgency of coastal storm hazards mitigation. This research should draw attention from state and federal agencies.”

Planning for the future

Coastal infrastructures and buildings planned or designed today will generally have a service life, that is, a period of time during which they are useful, through the end of 21st century. This study has shown climate change can potentially increase the severity of natural hazards within that time period, thereby reducing the reliability or safety of structures in the future.

“The inundation maps from this study will help assess the types of buildings and structures in the areas of Honolulu that would be exposed to increased flood risks,”said Li. “This has significant implications for engineering practice and land-use planning. If climate change effects are factored into design requirements through new regulations, an economic incentive is created for responding to climate change in planning, siting and construction of structures. This investment in increased resilience will offset the economic consequences of inadequate performance, loss due to damage, loss of marketability or even failures of safety.”

Cheung said, “We would like to seek opportunities to implement this approach in other strategic locations and extend the inundation mapping from urban Honolulu to other populated coastal communities.”

—By Marcie Grabowski

and the 糖心视频 Maui College education centers on Molokaʻi and 尝腻苍补ʻ颈 and in Lahaina and H膩na will reopen Thursday, September 13 following the closures due to Tropical Storm Olivia.

糖心视频 officials closed the campus and education centers Tuesday night before the storm arrived.

While the campus and centers will resume classes and operations Thursday, safety should remain everyone’s top priority. Monitor conditions, including road closures, in your area.

Please follow the , other official agencies and local media for the latest weather news.

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that your contact information is up-to-date:

Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the Emergency Information webpage, as well as on social media:

• 糖心视频 emergency information website

Please stay informed and updated:

All University of Hawaiʻi campuses on Oʻahu will be open Wednesday barring any sudden changes by Tropical Storm Olivia. Classes and activities will be held as scheduled.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service has Olivia weakening as it passes over Maui and moves south of Oʻahu. The storm may still bring strong wind gusts and potentially heavy rains to the island and its path has moved several times so remain informed.

The university will send updates, if necessary and encourage everyone to consider their personal safety.

Please follow the , other official agencies and local media for the latest weather news.

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that your contact information is up-to-date:

Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the Emergency Information webpage, as well as on social media:

• 糖心视频 emergency information website

Please stay informed and updated:

The and all 糖心视频 education centers in Maui County are closed as of 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11 and will be closed Wednesday, September 12 in anticipation of the arrival of Tropical Storm Olivia. This includes the education centers on Molokaʻi and 尝腻苍补ʻ颈 and in Lahaina and H膩na. To be clear, all Tuesday night classes scheduled after 4:30 p.m. are cancelled.

糖心视频 Maui College officials will determine when the campus and centers will reopen. 糖心视频 continues to monitor Olivia and will determine whether to close Oʻahu campuses as it progresses.

Staff of Maui and Oʻahu should prepare their offices and facilities for a prolonged power outage:

• Turn off and unplug all electrical equipment and appliances (except phones), including: refrigerators (remove all items, defrost and wipe down), microwave ovens, coffee makers, battery chargers, computers, printers, fax machines, network devices (routers, switches, hubs, etc.), clocks, radios and window air conditioning units
• Move valuable items off the floor
• Backup computer files
• Cover electronics/furniture with plastic if possible
• Close all windows and blinds
• Secure important/confidential documents and valuables
• Remove perishable food from buildings, trash cans and refrigerators
• Update telephone and e-mail messages for the closure period

Please follow the , other official agencies and local media for the latest weather news.

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that your contact information is up-to-date:

Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the Emergency Information webpage, as well as on social media:

• 糖心视频 emergency information website

Please stay informed and updated:

Weather experts from the (SOEST) at the shared their knowledge with the public as communities across the state awaited Hurricane Lane’s arrival.

Several faculty in the SOEST have expertise in hurricanes, and tropical and island meteorology.

Assistant Professor was interviewed by the New York Times, and was on-air with KHON2‘s weather anchor for nearly six hours on Friday. She updated viewers on the approaching hurricane/storm, answered questions from the public and interpreted hurricane graphics in layman’s terms.

“The most exciting part was when the storm fell apart in front of our eyes on live TV,” said Nugent. “We could see the upper level clouds being sheared toward the northeast and the lower level clouds beginning to move westward as Hurricane Lane took a turn to the left.”

, professor and chair of the department, was also highly sought after as a media commentator. He discussed whether Maunakea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi Island “protect” the islands from storms.

The discussion centered around the influence of environmental winds on the track and wind shear on the intensity of the storm. In particular, as the storm weakened through the action of wind shear as it neared Oʻahu, its depth became shallower, and the low level flow from the northeast took over in steering the storm to the west.

Assistant professor , professor , assistant professor , and Hawaiʻi Sea Grant faculty were also interviewed by several media outlets. They shared various tools and webpages for the general public to follow the storm; explanations of how Lane was progressing; and how to prepare homes based on the .

“Even though we dodged a bullet from Lane, the hurricane season is not over until the end of November,” said Chu. “We still have to be vigilant about future storms.”

Watch some of the 糖心视频 experts

• , KHON
• , KHON

—By Marcie Grabowski

The National Weather Service reports that Tropical Storm Lane has weakened to a tropical depression and has departed the islands.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this storm.

All University of Hawaiʻi campuses, facilities and offices will resume normal operations on Monday. All students and employees should report to campus as regularly scheduled.

糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 Wahine volleyball team will host Kansas State at 2 p.m. today at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Please remember that we are still in hurricane season that runs from June 1 through November. 糖心视频 officials are currently monitoring all weather disturbances in the Pacific that could pose a threat to the islands.

All members of the 糖心视频 community are urged to sign up for to receive emergency text alerts. If you have already signed up, log in to ensure that your contact information is up-to-date:

Notifications affecting 糖心视频 campuses will be posted on the Emergency Information webpage, as well as on social media:

• 糖心视频 emergency information website

Please stay informed and updated: