Tropical Storm Lane: Is the storm weakening? When will the rain stop?

Tropical Storm Lane is continuing to track west and was around 225 miles southwest of Honolulu at 8.55pm HST. 

Lane is expected to keep weakening as it travels along this track, but there will still be heavy rainfall throughout the rest of the weekend. 

The wet weather is likely to last until Tuesday, as drier winds are then expected from Wednesday through to next weekend, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

All tropical storm watches and warnings have now been cancelled, but Hawaii still remains under a flash flood watch due to the high levels of rain.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Hawaii had “dodged a bullet” as he spoke at a news conference on Friday.

He said: “Mother Nature is unpredictable and this event brought us all together like never before.”

The storm’s winds have reduced to 50mph now. 

Lane was downgraded to a tropical storm only 24 hours after the cyclone was a Category 3 hurricane. 

US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Hawaii last week, ahead of the “catastrophic” flooding and power outages. 

People in Big Island are being urged to evacuate after rain triggered road-blocking landslides on Thursday.

The highest level of rainfall from Lane was recorded as 44.88 inches at Waiakea Uka on Big Island yesterday.

The last time at tropical cyclone or rainstorm produced that much rain was Paul in November 2000. 

Hilo Airport also measured 31.85 inches of rain during August 22 to 24, according to The National WEather Service (NWS) Hawaii. 

This is the west three-day period at the airport since record-brerakin began in 1949. 

Hilo also recorded 15 inches of rain on August 24, which was the fifth wettest calendar day on record, added the NWS. 

Elsewhere in Hilo, Fire crews had to help cleanup a mudslide, which covered parts of Highway 19 in the north. 

Rainfall was also falling at 2 to 3 inches per hour the area east of Pahoa. 

The US Army Corps of Engineers is sending over a debris management team to Hawaii to help repair the damage left by Lane. 

The US Army said: “The engineer team can provide technical support and advice to local authorities who may not be familiar with removal and disposal processes for large amounts of debris. 

“It also can involve physically carrying out various debris removal activities.”