Flossie passes by Hawaii with little fanfare

Over the previous few days, the development of Hurricane Flossie into a category 4 storm and where it was going certainly gained some attention. Flossie had peak winds around 145 miles per hour and was heading toward our 50th state. As the hurricane approached Hawaii on Tuesday, watches and warnings were issued and residents braced for some rough weather for at least 24 hours.

However, there was a collective sigh of relief when Flossie was torn apart by wind shear as she passed to the south of the Big Island during the overnight hours of yesterday morning. The most Hawaii saw from Flossie was minimal tropical storm winds and some rain. When I posted an early-morning report for Honolulu, there were only two reporting sites that had even drizzle for precipitation. Everywhere else across the state had variable cloud cover.

So, with the rapid weakening of Flossie by the time she reached Hawaii, this storm didn't live up to expectations. But that is a good thing. It's been 15 years since any hurricane made a direct hit on Hawaii and Flossie didn't inflict any serious damage to populated areas. Some weather watchers even got to enjoy the high surf crashing onshore, including where storm tracker Jim Cantore was located when he filed live reports for The Weather Channel from South Point, Hawaii on Tuesday night.

Now local and national television channels turn their attention to two other storms on this Thursday and Flossie is now history.