It was a slightly below average year for rainfall on O'ahu in 2005 with 15.61 inches of rain recorded at Honolulu International Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, high surf warnings remain in effect for the north- and west-facing shores until 6 p.m. tomorrow for Ni'ihau, Kaua'i, O'ahu and Moloka'i along with the north-facing shores of Maui and the west-facing shores of the Big Island.

An average year will drop about 18 inches of rain on the island. Since the service began keeping track of annual rainfall in 1949, 2005 was the right about in the middle — the 28th driest year on record.

Victor Proton, a lead forecaster with the weather service, said 2005 may have seemed dry to most people because in 2004 O'ahu had 38.9 inches of rain, more than double the total for this year.

The driest year on record was 1998, when only 4.5 inches of rain fell at the airport.

Lihu'e had the eighth driest year on record in 2005, with only 27.6 inches of rain.

The long-range forecast shows little chance of rain before mid-January with the jet stream blowing storms about 750 miles north of Hawai'i from Japan toward California and Oregon.

Proton said the trade winds will start to build this afternoon to about 10 to 15 mph on most islands, but remain light and variable on the Big Island. Any increase in trade winds will be good news for people bothered by smoke from fireworks during the holiday weekend.

However, a lack of rainfall this weekend means dry conditions will prevail.