EPA, state add $135K to fines on Pflueger

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Health Department will seek an additional $135,000 from Kauai landowner James Pflueger for not starting remediation work on his Pilaa property.
Just last week, Pflueger was saddled with a $23,500 fine from the EPA for not meeting deadlines in relation to replacing cesspools on his property near Kilauea.
But Pflueger's lawyer, Wesley Ching, said county, state and federal governments are putting his client in a "nightmarish Catch-22," expecting him to meet deadlines but not allowing him to do so.
Ching said in a news release that Pflueger wants to do the work, but a grading permit submitted to the county Department of Public Works 10 months ago has yet to be approved.
Pflueger's original environmental settlement, of $2 million in fines and $5.3 million in remediation work, was caused by unpermitted grading work on his 378-acre parcel at Pilaa.
"If the EPA and the DOH would expend an iota of effort in addressing the environmental issues at the heart of this case, real environmental benefit would be achieved," Ching said.
The EPA, however, maintains that Pflueger has to meet the deadlines to ensure the protection of the reef at Pilaa, which was inundated with mud after a landslide in 2001. The slide was caused by the unpermitted work on Pflueger's property.

Boycott targets Kauai mall cat policy

A local animal-rights organization is leading a boycott against Kauai Village Shopping Center, alleging that the manager is not cat-friendly.
Members of the Kauai-based Animal Sanctuary of the Pacific say they've been feeding between eight and 10 feral cats in the shopping center for about 2 1/2 years. They've taken the cats to the Kauai Humane Society, got them spayed or neutered, and then brought them back to the center, which houses Kauai's lone Safeway, a Longs Drug Store, a Starbucks and a number of local restaurants and health food stores.
But now Kauai Village manager Karen Klock has threatened the cat feeders with arrest, and even tried to get one of the feeders fired from his job, said Linda Pasadava, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit.
"She's being really unreasonable," said Pasadava. "The cats aren't hurting anybody."
According to Pasadava, the organization was trying to work with Klock to find a humane way to control the cat population. Instead, Klock decided to ban the group from the premises.
That's when the group decided to boycott the center.
Klock's boss, Kim Lord, vice president for CB Richard Ellis, an international firm that manages Kauai Village Shopping Center, said they were working with the Kauai Humane Society "for the health and safety of the public and for the cats."
Dr. Becky Rhoades, Humane Society director, said the cat and rat population at the shopping center appeared to be out of control.
But Pasadava claims the cats are not overfed, and help control the vermin population at the center.
Rhoades said she had met with the managers of the center and was attempting to meet with the animal sanctuary group to get the colony of cats moved to another location.
She said there are more than 10 cats, including injured animals, kittens and another set in a field behind the store. And those cats are breeding.
"Cats are an issue around the state," Rhoades said. "What we recommend is make sure they are spayed and neutered."
The Humane Society has a policy to spay and neuter any feral or free-range cat found on Kauai for a donation, but the person who brings in the cat must take responsibility for it.
Pasadava said her group is "not a bunch of crazy old ladies," but "compassionate people (who) saw the cats and saw a need."
But Rhoades said anywhere else is better for the cats than Kauai Village, with its high volume of traffic.

Ranch tour is all-terrain adventure

Something miraculous happens when you put on a helmet and rest your fingers on the handlebars of an ATV.
Your heart starts racing, your adrenaline starts pumping and you're suddenly as fearless as a teenager. Move a lever, press a button and the machine roars to life.
Ruts, hills, branches, uneven terrain, even streams don't intimidate you. You're confident your powerful steed will carry you ably over every challenge nature presents.
Kipu Ranch Adventures' three-hour Ranch Tour takes you all over Kipu Ranch, which is otherwise inaccessible to the public. You can make the trip solo in a fully automatic Honda ATV, travel with a companion in a Yamaha Rhino or join three others in a Kawasaki Mule.
Expect to be jarred! Expect to get dirty! Expect to have the time of your life!
A working cattle ranch, Kipu Ranch sprawls over 4,000 acres in the verdant southeastern area of Kauai called Kipu. Hawaiian royalty once owned this land, and it was a favorite summer retreat for Princess Ruth Keelikolani, a granddaughter of King Kamehameha I.
In 1872, 26-year-old William Hyde Rice, son of Protestant missionaries, purchased this Kipu parcel from Princess Ruth for $3,000 to breed cattle and horses. Fluent in Hawaiian, he later served as Kauai's governor as an appointee of Queen Liliuokalani.
Rice's son Charles started growing sugarcane at Kipu in 1907. Sugar remained the family's primary business focus until 1942, when their efforts reverted to ranching.
During the Ranch Tour, you'll pass within a few feet of grazing Hereford and Brangus (Brahma/Angus mix) cows, calves and bulls. Don't worry about causing a stampede; they're used to ATVs (ranch cowpokes use them instead of horses for transportation), and will barely give you a glance as you whiz by.
If you're lucky, you also might spot wild pigs, goats, turkeys, pheasants, cattle egrets and the endangered nene, Hawaii's state bird.
The Kipu Ranch ATV tour takes visitors over uneven ground to otherwise inaccessible sites, like a backdrop for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and a cave where alii are said to be buried.
Vistas stretch from Nawiliwili Bay to Huleia Valley to the Haupu mountain range -- spectacular scenes that served as backdrops for a host of Hollywood blockbusters, including "Raiders of the Lost Ark." In fact, during one break on the tour, you can swing off a tree branch on the very rope that Indiana Jones used to escape a mob of pursuers in that film's action-packed opening. Instead of landing back on shore, drop into the Huleia River for a quick dip, if you'd like.
Guide Troy Shanks grew up in the area and knows all of its stories. At another stop atop a bluff, he'll point out the cliffs of Haupu where legend says the bones of alii are buried in caves.
"The Hawaiians believe that a person's bones contain their mana, or spiritual power," Shanks said. "The alii didn't want the wrong people to get hold of that power so after they died, a trusted servant was given the task of hiding their bones in a cave high in the mountains. After doing that, the servant would cut the rope he had used to climb there and fall to his death. That way, no one would know where the alii's bones were buried."
This lookout also offers a view of Menehune Fishpond. Some scholars believe the menehune came from the Marquesas and were the first to settle in Hawaii around 400 A.D. Although they stood no more than 4 feet tall, they were skilled engineers and conscientious laborers, and always completed their construction projects in one night.
As the story goes, the king of Kauai asked the menehune to build a fishpond so he would have a reliable source of food. The menehune agreed to the job for payment of one shrimp each.
The next morning, the king arose and was delighted to find his new fishpond. The wall measured 900 feet long, 4 feet high and 4 feet wide. Gates allowed young fish to swim into the pond, and as they matured, they became too big to swim out.
"The king's servants would go to the pond, throw a net and catch the fish they needed for that day's meals," said Shanks. "In essence, ponds like this were the Hawaiians' refrigerators -- the first aquaculture system in the world."
Interestingly, when scientists studied the specific type of rocks that were used to construct the fishpond, they couldn't find any nearby, but there were plenty of them in Waimea, over 20 miles away.
According to Shanks, one theory suggests the menehune gathered the rocks in Waimea and passed them hand to hand along a human chain going partway toward Kipu. When the rocks reached the end of that line, the menehune repositioned themselves closer to Kipu and resumed passing the rocks. And so it went until they had what they needed to build the pond.
"The rocks cut the menehune's hands, and when they rinsed them in the pond, it turned the water red," said Shanks. "The Hawaiian name for the pond is Alekoko, which means bloody ripple."
Another scenic highlight of the Ranch Tour is a breathtaking panorama of Kipu Kai and its gorgeous crescent of white sand. Every beach in Hawaii is public, but since the land surrounding Kipu Kai is private, you only can reach this oasis by boat.
"It's my favorite beach on Kauai because there's usually no one there," said Shanks. "Less than 2 percent of the people on Kauai have been to Kipu Kai. It's a real treasure -- one of the few places in the islands that hasn't been developed."
Breaks are well-paced, and for safety reasons, groups travel single file at a speed that suits their comfort level. More daring drivers will want to push their ATVs to 25 miles per hour -- so, yes, even though bandannas and goggles are provided, it's likely you'll eat some dust.
But it doesn't take long for you to realize that getting dirty is part of the fun of an ATV adventure; there's nothing demure about it. Don't try to swerve around potholes, rocks or branches on the trail; just drive right over them and relish the thrill of the ride.
Said Shanks, "Sometimes we hear ladies tell their husbands, 'This is the first time you took me on an adventure that I enjoyed.' Most often we hear people say it was the very best part of their vacation!"

Simple things bring holiday joy

The Garden Island newspaper and Zonta Club of Kaua‘i are again teaming up this year, and asking the community to help make the holidays happier for less-fortunate residents through the Zonta/The Garden Island Christmas Fund.
From now through Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, The Garden Island will share stories of families who could use a little holiday cheer along with an appeal for monetary donations of any size. The names have been changed to protect their privacy. Funds raised will be distributed to needy families by Zonta Club members, who purchase gift certificates at appropriate businesses to help make these simple wishes come true.
Because of logistical limitations, only monetary donations can be accepted. Gift certificates and used or new items, while appreciated, should not be submitted.
Pajamas, slippers would make Lucy’s holidays
Lucy is an 81-year-old woman who lives alone. All her children live on the Mainland. She suffers from multiple illnesses (gout, diabetes, glaucoma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, allergies and respiratory problems) and was recently hospitalized for weakness in her lower extremities and an eating disorder. The holiday season would be greatly improved if she had a new pair of pajamas and house slippers which would keep her warm and bring her spirits up.
Gift of food would cheer ailing couple
Lester recently had his right foot amputated and also suffers from other medical conditions including diabetes, vision impairment, heart problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and an infection in his lungs. He lives with his wife Edna who also suffers from arthritis and high blood pressure. Because of their multiple illnesses, their medical expenses are very high. A food gift certificate will certainly cheer them up knowing that someone is thinking about them.
Groceries are all this couple is requesting
Fred and Kendra live on a small monthly retirement and Social Security income. Although they no longer have a house mortgage to deal with, their medical needs and daily living expenses use up most of their monthly income. Fred suffers form dementia, diabetes, vision and hearing impairment, anemia and incontinence. Kendra also has dementia, diabetes and vision and hearing impairment but also has psychiatric problems and heart problems. Having a gift certificate to purchase groceries would be helpful for them since fruits and vegetables cost so much.
• Checks should be written to Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation 501(c)3. Donations are tax-deductible, and should be mailed to Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation, c/o Dimples Kano, P.O. Box 3996, Lihu‘e, HI 96766.

New Botanical Research Center to be built on Kauai

Construction on a new 21 (m) million dollar Botanical Research Center is expected to begin in January.
The 20-thousand-foot center will house the National Tropical Botanical Garden's extensive preserved plant collection and botanical library.
Director Charles R ``Chipper'' Wichman says this will be the organization's fifth garden -- three are on Kauai, one on Maui and one in South Florida.
Wichman says the gardens will help preserve the botanical heritage of Hawaii and the Pacific.
He says they will help save ecosystems, endangered species and cultural knowledge.
Hawaii has more endangered species -- most of which are plants -- than any other state.
The building will be completed by the end of 2007.

Mainland visitor traffic increases

November is seeing an increase in visitor volume from North America, both in comparison to a month earlier and a year earlier.
A typical day at this time of year brings 700 people to Kauai, 900 to the Big Island, 3,500 to Maui and 10,000 to Honolulu. But Kauai got 1,025 arrivals on Nov. 2 and 1,117 on Nov. 4. Big Island arrivals hit 1,188 on Nov. 3 and 1,426 on Nov. 4. Maui arrivals topped 4,000 four days in a row through Nov. 5. Honolulu domestic arrivals have topped 11,000 almost every day and twice topped 12,000.
Domestic arrivals from the start of the month through Tuesday neared 123,000, up 4.2 percent from a year ago, three times the year-to-year percentage point increase seen in either September or October, according to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Domestic arrivals are up 3.9 percent to Oahu (in October they were down 0.2 percent), up 2.8 percent to Maui (in October they were up 2.0 percent), up 8.2 percent to the Big Island (in October they were up 4.1 percent) and up 9.2 percent to Kauai (where the October increase was almost 20 percent).
Japanese arrivals, which were down 11.6 percent in September and down 8.2 percent in October, are down 6.6 percent so far this month, compared to the same time last year.

Hawaii's earthquake hasn't affected vacationers

The state has launched a new marketing campaign aimed at keeping tourists coming following a 6.7-magnitude temblor shook the state last month.
Tourism is Hawaii's No. 1 industry, bringing 7.5 million people to the islands and generating $12 billion annually. Visitors during the earthquake found themselves in the dark -- frightened and inconvenienced like everyone else. Some travelers planning to arrive soon after wondered whether they should cancel their trips.
Gov. Linda Lingle said at the time that she was certain there would be cancellations, but that experts didn't expect a long-term impact "and I don't either."
Preliminary damage estimates from the earthquake hit $73 million and President George W. Bush declared a major disaster, ordering federal aid to help recovery efforts.
TV images and newspaper coverage of stranded tourists sleeping on airport floors, damaged houses and cracked roadways have made the tourist industry here cringe.
Tourism officials are countering with a new video of "good pictures of Hawaii," such as tourists in the surf and playing with dolphins, said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert.
The quake, which caused no deaths or serious injuries, resulted in power outages across Hawaii. Tourists attractions, restaurants and stores closed. Many departing flights were grounded. Hotels were evacuated.
Despite the quake, some tourists said they enjoyed their trip to paradise.
"I was very, very scared for my life. I wanted to run for the hills in case of a tsunami," said Australian Carrie Prior, 38, who was visiting the Big Island. "But the trip gets a 10 out of 10. It's been awesome."
The state has emphasized that all hotels are operational, roadways are clear and Hawaii is open for business. Lingle said it's important for tourists to realize that Hawaii is safe to visit.
"They're going to have a great time," Lingle said. "Even when a unique disaster occurs, like a once-in-25-years-earthquake, we're able to get up and running."
In the spring, 40 days of heavy rains pounded the islands, contributing to a dam break that killed seven people on Kauai. The rain also caused a major sewer line to rupture, closing Waikiki beaches, and causing heavy flooding throughout Oahu.
But Hawaii has not seen any falloff in visitor numbers from the events. Americans, especially from the West Coast, are coming to Hawaii in record numbers.
Wienert noted that Hawaii withstood the earlier events and there were no long-lasting effects on the economy or industry.
"We're hoping the same thing will happen with this one," she said.

Snooze or cruise: some other things to do around West Kauai

Just stay in the hammock. Walk the beach at sunset. Mix up a mai tai. Get your toes wet. With a dearth of great beaches for swimming, West Kauai is my favorite place to simply chill out. I think vacationers to the islands often spend too much time charging around seeing sites and filling up the days instead of doing what they said they were coming to Hawaii to do: relax.
But my bosses would be unhappy if I left my "to do" list at "take lots of naps." So, here's some suggestions for those who want to get out:
• Na Pali Coast tours: The harbor at Waimea is one of the main jumping-off points for boat tours of the rugged coastline of steep cliffs, narrow valleys and empty beaches. Craft range from small Zodiac boats to large catamarans and small cruise-style ships. Book through your hotel or the Kauai Visitors office.
• Waimea Canyon: The "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" won't make you forget the real thing in Arizona, but it is a beautiful place to watch the shadows from big clouds sweep across the precipices. If you aren't up for a long hike, head to Kalalau Lookout for a view 4,000 feet down to the Pacific. Nearby Kokee State Park has a picnic area (and cabins to rent). It's a rare place in the islands where you can sometimes feel downright cold.
• Captain Cook Monument: The statue in Waimea Town commemorates the English explorer who in 1778 "discovered" what would become the Hawaiian Islands. His actual landing spot is nearby. Cook would later meet his death on the Big Island in a dispute over a small boat allegedly stolen by islanders.
• Russian Fort: Most people recall that a British explorer was the first westerner on the islands and that eventually Hawaii came under American influence. But the crumbling walls outside of Waimea Town are a reminder of Georg Scheffer, a Russian entrepreneur. In 1815, he convinced the Kauai king, Kaumualii, that Czar Nicholas could help him repel the feared invasion by Kamehameha the Great, ruler of the other islands. Scheffer built Fort Elizabeth near Waimea and two other forts near Hanalei, on the north coast. The Russians never came. Kamehameha eventually negotiated to bring his rule to Kauai. Only remnants of the fort near Waimea still exist.
• Waimea: You won't mistake the place for Lihue or Poipu, but there are enough markets, restaurants and cafes to make for an interesting afternoon. Shops sell the famous red-dirt T-shirts, stained a rust color by the local ground that's of the same color.
• Menehune Ditch: The legend is better than the sight itself. A narrow irrigation channel officially called Kikiaola Ditch was used to water taro fields. Local folklore says it was built in a single night by menehune, a kind of banana-eating Hawaiian elf. They weren't seen because the menehune sent word that they would only do the work if Ola, the local chieftain, ensured that the Hawaiians stayed in their homes from sunset to sunrise. Ola issued an order making it kapu (forbidden) to go outdoors after nightfall. The punishment for disobeying: death. In the morning, there was the ditch. The menehune were also credited with the Alekoko fish pond just south of Lihue. Some ethnologists believe there could have at one time been a separate race of forest-dwelling people on Kauai, who either died out or were blended into the larger culture by mixed relationships.
• Hanapepe: On the way back to Lihue, take the side road into one of the best-preserved plantation-era towns in the islands. Disney animators used it as the basis of their designs for the popular "Lilo & Stitch" movies and television shows (though they placed the town on the lusher north shore of Kauai). Nearby Hanapepe Valley Lookout shows beautiful views of the island interior. The area was used as a setting in Steven Spielberg's dinosaur epic, "Jurassic Park."

Kauai home prices steady

Prices of single-family homes on Kauai remained steady in October as the number of houses sold fell, while prices and sales of condominiums both dropped, according to data released Friday.
The median price of a single-family home on the Garden Isle last month was $676,000, up slightly from the October 2005 median price of $675,000, according to data from Hawaii Information Service.
The number of sales last month fell 30 percent, to 40, from October 2005 when 57 homes sold.
The median price of a condo on Kauai fell 33 percent last month, to $305,968, from $455,000 in October 2005. The number of condos sold in October, 29, was down 38 percent from the same month last year, when 47 units sold.
Year-to-date figures show the number of condos sold rising 8 percent to 601 units, up from the 557 units sold during the first 10 months of 2005. The number of single-family homes sold during that period, however, fell 33 percent to 393, down from 585 houses sold during that time in 2005.
Median prices year-to-date, meanwhile, are up for single-family homes on Kauai and down for condos.
The median price of a single-family home for the first 10 months of the year was $680,000, a 6 percent increase over 2005, when the price was $640,000.
The year-to-date median price of a Kauai condo was $395,000, a 9 percent decline from 2005, when the price was $435,000.

UH student studying snowflake invasion

When he took a submarine ride over the black coral beds deep in Maui's Auau Channel last month, Dan Polhemus was shocked at what he saw.
"I saw stands of black coral and they're not black, they're white," said Polhemus, administrator of the state Division of Aquatic Resources in the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
"There were very few of the black coral that weren't covered with snowflake coral," Polhemus said.
"The deeper you go, the more there is," he added. The coral appears to have "attacked that fishery from the bottom up, while divers were harvesting from the top down."
"These were obviously not isolated incidents," Polhemus said of what he saw from inside a Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory Pisces mini-sub, and via the video from an unmanned underwater vehicle.
The scene was all too familiar to Sam Kahng, a University of Hawaii doctoral candidate who wrote his dissertation on the aggressive soft coral that was first seen in the state in 1972 and now has spread to every major island.
Since his academic mentor, Richard Grigg, first documented snowflake coral deep in the Auau Channel in 2001, Kahng has been going back to monitor it: in 2003, 2004 and, most recently, Oct. 21-27.
Kahng said he wouldn't want to rely on his visual perception as to whether the snowflake coral growth is worse now than two years ago. He said he will analyze the data he collected before saying whether the situation is worse than before.
Averaging the data from trips to the Auau Channel in 2001, 2003 and 2004, half the black corals below 70 meters deep were overgrown with snowflake coral, Kahng said.
"Where it is entrenched, there are very few options," he said.
At Kauai's Port Allen Harbor, Polhemus' division is leading a campaign to wipe out the interloper.
"If they are able to eradicate on Kauai, it would be a very good thing, because there are very pristine black coral beds there," Kahng said.
Black coral divers push their physical limits by diving with air to depths of 150 to 200 feet -- deeper than recreational divers -- to harvest the coral trees. The dangerous occupation has only a handful of practitioners in Hawaii. They provide the product that's the base of a $30 million jewelry-making industry.
The snowflake coral originally was believed to have come to Hawaii from the Caribbean, Kahng said. But genetic testing suggests it may have come from the Western Pacific.

Hawaii gets break after days of rain

Some areas got 22 inches over three days; landslides closed roads
Rains that have lashed the islands for days began to move on Thursday, leaving behind pools of water and piles of debris for residents and government workers to contend with.
The rough weather forced officials to cancel an air drop Thursday by a Hawaii National Guard helicopter of food and fuel to some 340 residents of the Kipahulu region on Maui who were cut off from the rest of the island after the Paihi Bridge was closed due to last month's earthquake damage.
The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings extending into Thursday evening for both Maui and Molokai.
By Thursday afternoon on Oahu, a massive pile of muddy earth, roots, rocks and trees — three to four dozen truckloads worth — were cleared from just outside the Honolulu side of the Pali Highway tunnels that poke through the Koolau Mountains to the windward side of the island.
While no one was hurt in the landslide Wednesday, it blocked both of the town-bound lanes and part of the Kailua-bound side, snarling commuter traffic that night.
Highway officials, however, decided to keep the town-bound lanes closed Thursday because mud was continuing to flow onto the road.
Rainfall near the tunnels had been particularly intense in recent days.
The area received a total of 22 inches of rain over three days, including 8 inches within a 12 hour period, said Maureen Ballard, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
The rains, which began Monday on Kauai, are part of the start of the islands' wet season.
"We do get rain during our wet season, of course. But of course, we don't every year get stuff which produces landslides," Ballard said.
Even though El Nino this year is expected to mean a drier winter for the islands, events like this week's rains aren't uncommon, she said.
The Pali Highway's landslide appears to be the worst of the problems brought on by the storms. But periodic road closures were also seen elsewhere in the islands.
Residents and visitors on Kauai became stranded Wednesday when the Hanalei River flooded over Kuhio Highway.
While other streams rose to near flood levels, no serious flooding was reported and civil defense authorities reported few problems.
The Board of Education also canceled its public meeting Thursday on Molokai, where a day earlier classes were suspended at Kilohana Elementary School because flooded roads made the school inaccessible. Several Molokai schools also were closed Thursday, but no other schools were reported closed across the islands, and some field trips went ahead as scheduled.
The Hawaii State Golf Association, however, announced that it had postponed this weekend's Hawaii State Senior Amateur Championship golf tournament because of rain and wet course conditions.

Windward drenched while Leeward side stays dry

Another storm is expected to hit the state tomorrow
Weather forecasters say the islands likely will experience a respite between two relatively unusual storms soaking parts of the state this week.
Yesterday on Windward Oahu, heavy rain -- more than a foot in some areas -- flooded roads and soaked Halloween revelers. But the stalled sheer line left other areas, especially on the Leeward side, dry and sunny.
DELUGE HITS WINDWARD OAHU
Totals cover a 24-hour period ending at 5 p.m. yesterday
MAUNAWILI 13.69 in.
ST. STEPHEN'S 8.56 in.
LULUKU 5.49 in.
KANEOHE 4.71 in.
OLOMANA 4.49 in.
WAIHEE PUMP 4.41 in.
KAPIOLANI 0.03 in.
MOANALUA 0.03 in.
Few problems were reported due to the heavy rain, except for the closure of Kapaa Quarry Road because of flooding yesterday afternoon, Civil Defense officials reported.
National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Kodama said yesterday afternoon that the stalled areas of rainfall were to slowly dissipate overnight, leaving today drier.
But Kodama said the better conditions are not expected to last too long.
A Kona-type system is expected to form near Kauai tomorrow, moving down the state through the end of the week. The storm is expected to move more quickly than a usual Kona storm, leading to drier conditions by the weekend, Kodama said.
"The way the pattern is it will be in and out in a day or two," Kodama said.
As for yesterday's rain, Kodama said the rainfall was triggered by a number of meteorological conditions leading to "anchored rainfall."
A sheer line stalled just off the Windward coast and provided the moisture. Westerly upper level winds and the terrain on the Windward side provided the rest, leading to localized steady rain for hours, Kodama said.
Elsewhere across the state, Windward areas on Kauai and Maui picked up localized heavy showers for short periods of time, but unlike Oahu, the showers moved out after a few hours.
Rain gauges on Windward Kauai picked up about 3 inches of rain, while gauges in Windward Maui picked up as much as 6 inches of rain from 5 p.m. Monday until 5 p.m. Tuesday.
On Oahu, rain gauges at Maunawili picked up almost 14 inches of rain over the same period, with St. Stephen's picking up 8 1/2 inches, according to the Weather Service.