Winter arrives

It’s weather Santa would approve.

The Big Island’s two summits are braced for Hawaii’s answer to that proverbial howling nor’easter — with wind gusts of more than 90 mph expected to drive up to a foot of snow hard into the mountain faces by today. Temperatures on the peaks were forecast to dip to a frosty 23 degrees Tuesday night, according to the Mauna Kea Weather Center.

Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea were under blizzard warnings Tuesday and today and summit roads were closed as a potent upper atmosphere disturbance geared up to slam the peaks. Bitterly cold wind chills, lightning and blowing and drifting snow were combining to create life-threatening conditions for anyone trying to drive or hike the summit of Mauna Kea, forecasters warned.

Because the snow showers were mostly centered above 11,000 feet, the two summits were the only ones in the state likely to be graced with drifts of white, said National Weather Service forecaster Derek Wroe.

Extreme winter weather also has persisted at lower elevations on the north end of the island. American Red Cross personnel responded Tuesday to a home that flooded when a stream backed up with debris in the Keokea area of Kapaau. Flooding and a tangle of trees and utility wires at a bridge closed Highway 270 near Keokea Beach Park on Tuesday morning.

Sarah Davis, a resident of Keokea Park Road, said rain and lightning were intense early Tuesday morning.

“The power went out last night. It was like someone turned a water hose on the house,” she said.

Honokaa got 4.5 inches of rain out of a front that dropped in Monday then remained stall over the Alenuihaha Channel on Tuesday, keeping the threat of heavy showers and thunderstorms around through today.

A flash flood watch until 6 p.m. today was posted Tuesday. On Hawaii Island, the greatest threat of flash flooding is centered in those northern windward slopes that already received high rainfall, Wroe said.

With close to an inch falling in Honaunau, the rain brought much-needed relief to portions of the coffee belt, where vegetation had begun to wither. Nearby Kealakekua had experienced its driest November since 2005 and little rain fell in the first part of December.

Kona and Kohala shores still were under high surf advisories Tuesday after being pounded for two days by a northwest swell train that brought 10-foot faces and closed low-lying parks and beaches. The swell was expected to continue dissipating Tuesday night, with advisories set to be lifted this morning. But beachgoers were urged to still exercise caution in approaching the surf, where currents can remain strong and dangerous even after the water appears safe.

The summit winds might persist into Tuesday evening, but overall conditions were expected to become more mild today, with a return to drier and more stable conditions Thursday — Christmas Day — and Friday.

Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com.