Hurricane Lane Was the Third Wettest U.S. Tropical Cyclone on Record (Recap)

Hurricane Lane weakened rapidly as it approached Hawaii but still brought flooding to the Big Island where rainfall totals from the storm ranked among the heaviest for any tropical cyclone in U.S. history.

More than 50 inches of rain was reported in one location on the Big Island, and an additional four locations saw more than 40 inches of rain.

Mountain View, located in the higher elevations of the Big Island, received 51.53 inches of rain from noon Aug. 22 to 4 a.m. Aug. 26, local time. Not far behind was Waiakea Uka, located just south of Hilo on the Big Island, where rainfall totaled 49.10 inches.

Lane ranks third on the list of rainiest U.S. tropical cyclones on record (preliminary), topped only by Hiki in 1950 (52 inches) and Harvey in 2017 (60.58 inches).

Hilo picked up 36.76 inches of rain in the four-day period from Aug. 22-25, making it the wettest four-day period ever observed in Hilo in records dating to 1949. Fifteen inches fell on Aug. 24 alone, allowing it to become the fifth-wettest calendar day on record. August 2018 is also the wettest August on record in Hilo.

Pahoa, on the Big Island, saw 3.36 inches of rain in one hour on the evening of Aug. 24, 1.28 inches of which fell in just 15 minutes.