Massive Storm in Hawaii May Be a Record-Breaker

One of the most beautiful places on earth was not exactly a paradise earlier this month. Nature pummeled the Hawaiian island of Kauai with nearly 50 inches of rain April 14 to 15, unofficially blowing out the current US record of 43 inches in Alvin, Texas, in 1979, reports the National Weather Service. The amount still has to be verified and certified by the National Climatic Extremes Committee, which will review the gauge and other data for accuracy.

Though the rainfall is extreme, it’s a mere sprinkle compared with the world record of 71.8 inches in 24 hours at Réunion Island, in the South Indian Ocean, on Jan. 7 to 8, 1966. That rain fell during Tropical Cyclone Denise, per USA Today. Christopher C. Burt, a weather historian at Weather Underground, told the Washington Post that the record is “plausible given the weather at the time and the region in question’s climatology.” Kauai is one of the rainiest places on Earth. (More rain stories.)