KAHULUI
A storm of dime-size hail rolled into Kahului at sunrise Sunday, shocking residents as they delighted in a rare occurrence at sea level.
"It was unreal," said Maria Keau, a Kahului resident on Niihau Street. "It was awesome."
National Weather Service meteorologist Ian Morrison said a severe thunderstorm warning was issued about 6:30 a.m. Sunday following reports of dime-size hail falling between 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. from Kahului through Maka-wao. There were also reports of hail in Kahana on the west side.
Residents reported hearing thunder and lightning, followed by rain and hail that lasted between 20 and 30 minutes in some places.
Krystle Dunn of Kahana said the hail she saw was preceded by thunder and lightning. Dunn and her husband, Marc, woke up to barking dogs and lightning outside their home just below the Kapalua-West Maui Airport shortly after 6 a.m.
Soon after, Marc Dunn felt something hit his arm. The two soon realized it was hail falling at the same time that rain began to pour.
"I was totally shocked," Krystle Dunn said. "I grew up here, and I've never seen anything like it."
Dunn said she ran into her house to get her camera and took photographs of the hail she saw landing in her front yard and driveway. She and her husband picked up some of the pieces.
"I thought 'Oh my God, it's really hail.' . . . That's something else, especially for the west side," she said.
Morrison called the short-lived hailstorm a "very rare" occurrence "especially at sea level." Hail is defined as a falling or showering of rounded pieces of ice or frozen raindrops.
Sunday's gusts of 60 mph winds were strong enough to blow the hailstorm into Kahului, Morrison said, where temperatures at sunrise were reported to be 69 degrees. He said hail is more likely to be seen at 10,000-foot elevations such as Haleakala or Mauna Kea on the Big Island.
Glenn James, a senior weather analyst for the Pacific Disaster Center in Kihei, said the hail was "quite a dynamic start to our day."
James said he received several reports of thunder and lightning occurring between 4 and 6 a.m. Sunday.
"It was just a constant flickering of lightning. . . . It certainly was one of the better thunderstorms we've had," he said.
After the hail melted, there was 0.07 inch of precipitation measured in Kahana. On the other parts of the island, rainfall amounts varied from 0.80-inch at Kahului to 3.92 inches in Hana over the 24 hours ending 2 p.m. Sunday. Kahoolawe reported 0.08 inch, but the National Weather Service reported no rain on Lanai or Molokai.
Keau, her husband, Matthew, and their 13-year-old daughter, Tiffany, woke up Sunday to the sound of banging against their window in Kahului.
"It was so loud," Maria Keau said. "At first, I hid and took cover."
Within seconds after realizing it was hail, the Keaus walked outside of their home and started taking pictures.
"It was just so awesome to us," she said.
Glenn Beadles of Spreckelsville said he was "thrilled" to have seen hail after living in Hawaii for 35 years.
"I held out my hand and caught a few pieces. . . . I had never seen this before, especially at sea level," Beadles said.
He said his wife, Cynthia, and 11-year-old daughter Berry were scared by the noise and worried about the damage hail might cause to their neighborhood on Stable Road. Beadles seemed to be charmed by the hail and even excited of the prospects.
"We might have a white Christmas," he joked.
Nellie Mae Fernandez, a Haiku resident on Kokomo Road, said she was delighted to have witnessed the hail with her husband, Harold Sr. She had just awakened Sunday when she heard something hitting her roof. She stepped out onto her patio to find out what was happening and a small piece of hail landed in her hand after bouncing off one of the patio railings.
"It was so beautiful," Fernandez said, "just beautiful."
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@maui news.com.
