Moke brushes Hawaii’s Big Island just a week after Hurricane Lala

By Meteorologists Tyler Ory, Briana Waxman

(CNN) — Tropical Depression Moke is passing well south of Hawaii after weakening Sunday evening, but flooding rainfall is still possible on Monday.

Moke is the state’s second tropical threat in a week following Hurricane Lala’s deadly blow to the islands. But Moke has been far less impactful than Lala because it’s much weaker and has tracked much farther south.

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Rainfall is the system’s biggest threat — and it’s falling on some of the same places that Lala flooded. This means it takes far less rainfall to trigger “life-threatening flooding and mudslides,” the National Hurricane Center warned.

Parts of the Big Island had picked up over 1 inch of rain through late Sunday night, local time.

Moke could still spin some additional downpours into the Big Island on Monday, especially in windward and southeast parts of the island. A flood watch remains in effect through the afternoon.

The islands’ steep slopes force air upward, where it cools and releases its moisture as rain.

An additional 3 to 6 inches of rain could fall in limited parts of the Big Island through Monday. Eastern Maui is also forecast to receive 3 to 6 inches, while western Maui and the remainder of the islands could see up to 1 or 2 inches.

Moke is forecast to continue weakening as it moves westward away from Hawaii early this week. The depression is forecast to dissipate on Tuesday, but it could fall apart even sooner.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closed on Friday until further notice in advance of the storm. The park still doesn’t have power, internet or phone lines after Lala swept by last week, and many of its employees are still recovering from the storm.

Lala’s eyewall brushed the southern coast of the Big Island while its center was roughly 30 miles offshore. Moke’s center passed over 300 miles south and southwest of the Big Island on Sunday and Sunday night during its closest approach.

The-CNN-Wire
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