8:20 pm Hawaii Time Update on Lowell

8:40pm  Below is my last update of the evening. Things are pretty well locked in as far as the forecast is concerned and, without a functioning radar on Kauai, I can't do the precision work I had in mind. 

Good bless everyone in Hawaii and Aloha for tonight. 

8:20pm Update

Via Molokai radar (Kauai's is still down), the eye is about to move over Niihau. Peak winds over Niihau will be 100 mph with a few higher gusts. Kauai will see gusts to near 100 around Barking Sands and the Na Pali Coast along with in mountain areas. Gusts as far east as Lihue will be near 60 mph. 

The tornado risk continues until 4am HST. Flash flood warning continues for all of Kauai and Niihau. 

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power in Hawaii. 

The eye of the storm is indicated by an E. The direction of movement by arrows. W = area of highest winds and it is intentionally wider on the east side. See storm surge forecast below. 

7:08pm Update

Using the radar on Molokai, here is the eye of the storm (E) and a rough idea of where the strongest sustained winds are located. The worst conditions should be from about now until around midnight in terms of winds. Extreme surf is probably underway. Tornado threat continues in Kauai County. 

5pm Update:

No change in the forecast path of the center of the storm. A tornado watch is in effect for Kauai and Niihau for the rest of the night. The Kauai radar is still down, so we have essentially zero tornado warning capability. 

Wind gusts of 100 mph likely on Niihau. Wind gusts of 90 possible on Kauai, especially at higher elevations. This will be a destructive storm.