Alert archive / Hawaii / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Honolulu, HI

January 25, 2004Kauai County, Hawaii

NWS Honolulu, HI issued this flash flood warning at Jan 25, 2004, 9:30 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 25, 2004, 9:30 PM HST (07:30 UTC)
Expired: Jan 26, 2004, 12:30 AM HST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Honolulu, HI
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Kauai County, HI

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Hilo, (PITO), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 12 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: 1235 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1163 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGHW50 PHFO 260726
FFWHI 
HIZ004-261030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
930 PM HST SUN JAN 25 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTH AND EAST HAWAII INCLUDING WINDWARD KOHALA HAMAKUA HILO AND
  PUNA

* UNTIL 1230 AM HST

* AT 930 PM HST...RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER THE HILO AND 
  PUNA DISTRICTS. THE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WAS NEARLY STATIONARY.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE MOUNTAIN VIEW...HILO...HONOMU 
  AND KEAAU.

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.

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 1955 15475 2013 15530 2012 15564 1922 15513
$$

CRAIG

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGHW70 PHFO 261026
FFSHI 
HIZ004-261130-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1230 AM HST MON JAN 26 2004

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS CANCELED FOR NORTH AND EAST HAWAII
INCLUDING WINDWARD KOHALA HAMAKUA HILO AND PUNA...

WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THE VERY HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED ACROSS THE
WARNED AREA....AND THERE IS NO LONGER A THREAT FOR SERIOUS FLOODING.

MODERATE...BRIEFLY HEAVY...SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA 
HOWEVER...AND WATER IN LOW LYING AREAS WILL BE SLOW IN LOWERING.  
MOTORISTS ARE THEREFORE URGED TO DRIVE WITH CAUTION.

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

$$

CRAIG

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 Jan 25, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU
830 PM HST SUN JAN 25 2004

.SYNOPSIS...
THE THREAT OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE. A COLD
FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE WEST WILL REACH KAUAI TONIGHT...ADDING
MORE HEAVY RAIN TO THE MIX. TRADE WIND WEATHER WILL RETURN NO
EARLIER THAN WEDNESDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
BEEN BUSY...SO HAVE NOT MADE ANY  CHANGES TO THE 4 PM DISCUSSION
REASONING.

AN UPPER TROUGH WEST OF THE MAIN ISLANDS...MOISTURE MOVING WESTWARD
IN RESURGENT TRADES...AND AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WEST OF KAUAI
ARE COMBINING TO PRODUCE LOTS OF RAIN AND SEVERE WEATHER. CONDITIONS
ARE VERY UNSTABLE...THANKS TO MUCH COLDER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES
ALOFT WITH THE UPPER UPPER TROUGH.

THIS COMBINATION OF INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO
TRIGGER HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ISLANDS TONIGHT.
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL ISLANDS.

BY WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND AND
BEGIN TO FILL. THE SURFACE RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN AT THE SAME TIME...
INDUCING DRIER TRADE WINDS.

&&

.HNL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH......ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
FLASH FLOOD WARNING....OAHU...N AND E HAWAII
FLOOD ADVISORY.........W HAWAII

&&

CRAIG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 25, 3:12 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO	Kauai	3 hr
Jan 25, 3:34 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO	Kauai	3 hr
Jan 25, 4:25 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO		3 hr
Jan 25, 6:30 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO	Kauai	3 hr
Jan 25, 7:03 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO		3 hr
Jan 25, 9:55 PM HST	Flash Flood Warning	HFO		3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Hawaii, 2004 Every flash flood warning in 2004

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.