Snow on Mauna Kea, record rainfall in Hilo, dime-sized hail on Maui, a water spout off Kona and sunshine combined to make yesterday an unusual weather day in the Islands.

"That was not typical weather for us," said Ian Morrison, a National Weather Service forecaster. "We rarely see hail at sea level in Hawai'i."

We should see much more normal weather today, Morrison said, with light winds and sea breezes during the late morning through the early afternoon with a slight chance of showers. The light winds will stick around through much of the week until a cold front makes an appearance on Thursday.

The culprit behind yesterday's severe weather, Morrison said, was a strong upper level low that destabilized the atmosphere and brought thunderstorms. The system was east of the Big Island yesterday and moving away, he said.

The National Weather Service also issued a high-surf advisory for east-facing shores of Kaua'i, O'ahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island until 6 a.m. today. A larger swell will arrive late tomorrow, the weather service said. Surf may approach warning levels for north- and west-facing shores by Christmas eve.

Yesterday's hail fell from Kahului Airport to Makawao around 7:30 a.m., driven by 60 mph wind gusts. Similar reports of hail came from Kona, where a water spout later was seen in Kona Harbor. Lightning and 30-mph wind gusts were also reported, Morrison said.

In Hilo, despite periodic sunshine and no reports of flooding, 7.92 inches of rain fell. That broke the previous record of 3.27 inches of rain for Dec. 19 in 1971, Morrison said.

On Mauna Kea's summit, yesterday's temperature dropped to about 27 degrees.

"We have snow right now and closed the summit road to the public," said David Bryne manager of the Mauna Kea visitor information station. "We closed the road because of the snow."

Officials will decide today whether to reopen the road to the summit, he said.

In Kailua, Kona, Catherine Kamau said she was securing her patio furniture because of gusting winds shortly after 10 this morning when she looked up to see a funnel cloud forming in the ocean.

Kamau managed to snap a photograph of the water spout before it dissipated.

"It didn't last very long," Kamau said. "I've never seen one from beginning to end. I was kind of excited about that."