Iselle Makes Landfall in Hawaii, Julio Should Miss to the North

686

Dennis Mersereau

08/08/14 05:58PM

Filed to: iselle

Hurricane Iselle fell apart in a spectacular manner after making landfall on the Big Island last night weakening from a hurricane last night to a 50 MPH tropical storm this afternoon. The storm is now south of Oahu and falling apart quickly.

Hilo reported a wind gust of 56 MPH as the storm came through, and Mauna Kea reported a 91 MPH gust. Radar estimates show that Iselle dropped as much as 8 to 10 or more inches of rain on the Big Island.

Hurricane Julio is on Iselle's heels, and should miss the archipelago to its north.

As Iselle weakened to a tropical storm before making landfall, 1992's Hurricane Iniki stays in the record books as the last hurricane to strike Hawaii. Iselle is, however, the strongest storm to hit the state since Iniki.

How well did the media cover the "tropical double trouble?" Meteorological legend James Spann summed it up nicely:

I have heard so much incorrect information on the Hawaii tropical situation from national media today. My head is about to explode.
— James Spann (@spann) August 7, 2014

And that's the news.

[Image via GOES]

The following replies are approved. To see additional replies that are pending approval, click Show Pending. Warning: These may contain graphic material.

Faethe Dennis Mersereau 08/08/14 07:16PM

I do believe I TOLD YOU SO is due from me. Didn't I say about three days ago here that the local media and authorities on Oahu are absolutely infamous for evacuating at the drop of a hat for what almost always turns out to be absolutely nothing?

I'm supposed to be in the middle of a hurricane right now. Instead, it's typical sunny beach weather. And yet, on my TV at this very second, reporters are standing on a sunny beach arguing about how dangerous it all is and we should all be very very afraid. They can't give up the charade for at least a full day after it's obvious nothing's happening.

Frickin ridiculous. They can't ever just admit they're wrong. This is Hurricane Iselle:

That highway is empty because of the media's continued fearmongering.

1

Alphagetti Faethe 08/08/14 07:49PM

I remember the forecasts from yesterday were calling for the Big Island to bear the brunt of this thing, and it looks like that's exactly what happened. Aside from the winds, some spots there have seen close to a foot of rain so far, and flash flooding is going to be an issue. The other islands were only ever under a Tropical Storm warning at most. If the local emergency managers decided that tropical storm conditions were worth evacuating for, then that's....probably going overboard a bit. Yeah, watch out for the possibility of flooding, some of the higher elevations could see heavy gusts, but we're not exactly talking about a 10 foot storm surge or anything (the Hawaiian Islands in general do not have ideal topography for producing high storm tides. Large individual waves, yes, and then of course there are tsunamis). What exactly were they most worried about?

1

Faethe Alphagetti 08/08/14 07:53PM

Yah, the Big Island took some hits. They're still restoring power and whatnot.

My issue is with the Oahu authorities and media. It's obvious to anyone with eyes that it was a false alarm here, and rather than simply say "well, false alarm, folks, carry on!", the TV is still blaring doom and gloom at me and reporters are STILL trying to convince us it's a thing.

They'll likely continue doing that through the day and into tomorrow, like they usually do when they're wrong.

cesariojpn Dennis Mersereau 08/10/14 03:08AM

Is it just me, or does Disasters (or potential ones in general) cause people to go full retard? Kinda head-desking myself over folks claiming "price gouging" on bottles of water.

http://khon2.com/2014/08/06/sho…

Hawaii had at least a WEEK WARNING about Iselle, and many of the complaints stem a day or so before Iselle made landfall on the Big Island. Which by that time, one would assume that whatever left on the shelf at the markets was expensive "exotic" water from somewhere in the Alps or some tropical island Nat Geo has probably covered once in a blue moon in one of their entertainment properties. Or the more "expensive" bottles of "cheap" water that people only buy as onesies on occasion.