Alert archive / Hawaii / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Honolulu, HI

November 28, 2003Kauai County, Hawaii

NWS Honolulu, HI issued this flash flood warning at Nov 28, 2003, 9:10 PM HST for Kauai County, Hawaii. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Nov 28, 2003, 9:10 PM HST (07:10 UTC)
Expired: Nov 29, 2003, 12:15 AM HST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Honolulu, HI
Area: Whole counties

County Kauai County, HI

The nearest sounding before it

Lihue, (PHLI), launched 00:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 37 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 175 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGHW50 PHFO 290715
FFWHI 
HIZ003-291015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
910 PM HST FRI NOV 28 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EAST MAUI

* UNTIL 1215 AM HST

* AT 905 PM HST...RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER KOALI...OR
  ABOUT 29 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KAHULUI.  THE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WAS
  NEARLY STATIONARY.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE PUUIKI...HOKUULA...HAMOA...HANA...
  HONOMAELE...KEANAE...KIPAHULU...MUOLEA...KOALI AND NAHIKU

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF STREAMS
AND COULD ALSO TRIGGER ROCK AND MUDSLIDES IN STEEP TERRAIN.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF
STREAMS...HIGHWAYS...UNDERPASSES AND LOW LYING AREAS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.

MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR FLOODING AND SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS FAST FLOWING OR RISING WATER. MANY FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR
WHEN MOTORISTS TRY CROSSING FLOODED ROADWAYS.

ESCAPE RISING WATER BY CLIMBING DIRECTLY TO HIGHER GROUND. NEVER TRY
TO OUTRACE A FLOOD...EITHER ON FOOT OR IN YOUR VEHICLE. DO NOT CAMP
NEAR STREAMS OR OTHER AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA SOURCES FOR THE
LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION. REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE
POLICE FOR IMMEDIATE RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

$$
LAT...LON 2071 15618 2060 15608 2068 15597 2079 15595
          2088 15616

POWELL

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGHW70 PHFO 290832
FFSHI 
HIZ003-291100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1035 PM HST FRI NOV 28 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR EAST MAUI...

...THE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY IS CANCELLED FOR EAST 
MAUI...

WEATHER RADAR INDICATES HEAVY RAINFALL HAS ENDED ACROSS THE WARNED 
AREA. THERE IS NO LONGER AN IMMINENT THREAT OF SERIOUS FLOODING. 
HOWEVER...SHOWERS WILL STILL OCCUR THROUGH TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

$$
POWELL

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Honolulu, HI wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Nov 28, 8:30 PM HST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 28, 8:30 PM HST, 40 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST FRI NOV 28 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A DISSIPATING COLD FRONT WILL PASS ACROSS THE ISLANDS
ON SATURDAY. THIS FRONT WILL BRING SHOWERY WEATHER TO THE STATE...
ESPECIALLY ON THE WINDWARD SIDES. DRIER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN
BEHIND THE FRONT ON SUNDAY...WITH MODERATE TRADE WINDS EXPECTED WELL
INTO NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...A 1039 MB HIGH FAR NORTH OF HAWAII IS MOVING
SOUTHEASTWARD...PUSHING A WEAKENING COLD FRONT AHEAD OF AND
SOUTHWEST OF IT. MODELS AND SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW THIS FRONT WILL
REACH HAWAII ON SATURDAY...BRINGING A BOUT OF CLOUDS...SHOWERS AND
STRONGER TRADE WINDS. RAINFALL WILL FAVOR WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS
OF THE ISLANDS AS THE FRONT PASSES...BUT PORTIONS OF LEEWARD AREAS
WILL GET WET AS WELL. DRIER CONDITIONS AND CLEARER SKIES WILL MOVE
IN THROUGH THE DAY SUNDAY.

WET TRADES RETURNED TO THE ISLANDS TODAY. AFTERNOON SOUNDINGS SHOW
CONDITIONS ARE RATHER UNSTABLE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING FRONT ACROSS
THE ISLANDS...WITH K INDICES IN THE MID 20S AND BETWEEN 1.5 AND 1.8
INCHES OF PRECIPITABLE WATER AVAILABLE FOR RAINFALL. SATELLITE AND
RADAR SHOWS HEAVY SHOWERS AFFECTING PORTIONS OF WINDWARD MAUI THIS
EVENING...WITH NARROW BANDS OF SHOWERS MOVING WESTWARD WITHIN
COASTAL WATERS EAST OF MOLOKAI.

MODELS SHOW WEAK TO MODERATE RIDGING NORTH OF THE ISLANDS WILL LAST
THROUGH THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. CENTERS OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE
THROUGH THE RIDGE...BUT THESE WILL WEAKEN AND FLATTEN OUT BEFORE
BUMPING OUR TRADES STRONGER THAN THE MODERATE RANGE.

SO...IN SHORT...EXPECT WET CONDITIONS TO SPREAD WESTWARD TONIGHT
THROUGH SATURDAY WITH STRONGER WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH FRONTAL
PASSAGE...FOLLOWED BY DRIER AND CLEARER CONDITIONS SUNDAY WITH
CONTINUED MODERATE TRADES.

&&

.MARINE...SURF OBSERVATIONS SHOW THE NORTHERLY SWELL CONTINUING TO
BUILD. THE FETCH IS EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE NORTHEASTERLY WITH
TIME...WITH WARNING LEVEL SURF ON THE EAST SHORES...AND ADVISORY
LEVEL SURF ON THE NORTH SHORES. THE WAVEWATCH III MODEL SUGGESTS
SURF WILL BE IN THE 16 TO 22 FOOT RANGE.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF WARNING FOR EAST FACING SHORES TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.
HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR NORTH FACING SHORES TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR EAST MAUI THIS EVENING.

&&

POWELL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Honolulu, HI issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 29, 1:25 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO		3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Hawaii, 2003 Every flash flood warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.