Hurricane Lala Dumps Over 40 Inches of Rain on Hawaii Island

Hurricane Lala narrowly missed a direct landfall on the Island of Hawaii but still caused serious damage as it passed just south of the island on August 15, 2026 as a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

The storm dropped more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain across parts of the island, triggering flash flooding and ongoing mudslide risk. The highest total, 43.55 inches (110.6 centimeters) as of the morning of August 17, was recorded at Laupāhoehoe on the coast northwest of Hilo. Lala downed trees, damaged bridges and knocked homes off their foundations, while large waves pounded coastal areas and the summit of Mauna Kea, more than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, saw blizzard conditions.

By early afternoon on August 16, the storm had tracked northwest, roughly parallel to the island chain, and weakened to a tropical storm with sustained winds of 65 miles (105 kilometers) per hour southwest of Kauai, according to the National Hurricane Center. The Island of Hawaii bore the brunt of the storm, but strong winds left more than 220,000 customers statewide without power as of that afternoon, and wind, rain, floodwater and debris damaged infrastructure and made roads impassable across the islands.

NASA's Earth Observatory notes it has been an active tropical cyclone season so far in 2026 in the Eastern Pacific, consistent with an El Nino pattern that has been underway since mid-June. Warm water in the equatorial Pacific and reduced wind shear in the region both help tropical storms form and strengthen. The Atlantic hurricane season, by contrast, has been relatively calm, since greater wind shear over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea during an El Nino tends to suppress hurricane formation.