Alert archive / Hawaii / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Honolulu, HI

March 1, 2004Honolulu County, Kauai County, Hawaii

NWS Honolulu, HI issued this flash flood warning at Mar 1, 2004, 4:35 PM HST for Honolulu County, 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
Mar 1, 2004, 4:35 PM HST (02:35 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 2004, 7:30 PM HST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Honolulu, HI
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Honolulu County, HI, 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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 97 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Hilo, at 00:00Z on 2004-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 168 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Hilo, at 00:00Z on 2004-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
168 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1746 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGHW50 PHFO 020237
FFWHI 
HIZ004-007-020530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
435 PM HST MON MAR 1 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
  NORTH AND SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICTS OF THE BIG ISLAND

* UNTIL 730 PM HST

* AT 429 PM HST...RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM ANAEHOOMALU 
  TO KAWAIHAE.  THE AREA OF RAIN IS MOVING NORTH AT 5 MILES PER HOUR.

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

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. TURN AROUND...DO NOT
DROWN

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.

LAT...LON 2021 15592 1989 15581 2001 15561 2027 15586
$$

KODAMA/POWELL
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGHW70 PHFO 020402
FFSHI 
HIZ004-007-020455-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
555 PM HST MON MAR 1 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 730 PM HST FOR THE NORTH 
AND SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICTS OF THE BIG ISLAND...

AT 545 PM HST...WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE HEAVY
RAINFALL NEAR KAWAIHAE AND ANAEHOOMALU AND OVER THE KOHALA MOUNTAIN 
ROAD. 

CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTED THE CLOSURE OF THE QUEEN KAAHUMANU HIGHWAY 
NEAR MILE POST 72 DUE TO FLOODING.

WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AS MUCH AS 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN MAY HAVE 
FALLEN IN AN HOUR OVER THE AREA BETWEEN WAIKOLOA AND KAWAIHAE.

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

$$

KODAMA

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 Mar 1, 4:00 PM HST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 4:00 PM HST, 35 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
400 PM HST MON MAR 1 2004

.SYNOPSIS...
A LOW SOUTH OF KAUAI WILL BRING CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TO THE MAIN
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THROUGH TUESDAY. THIS LOW WILL WEAKEN AND BE PUSHED
WESTWARD AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES IN TO OUR NORTH AND TRADE WINDS
RETURN...BUT THE RETURNING TRADE FLOW WILL BE WET. EXPECT THE BULK
OF CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TO AFFECT WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS WEDNESDAY
AND THEREAFTER.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
COUNTERCLOCKWISE FLOW AROUND A LOW SOUTH OF KAUAI CONTINUES TO BRING
CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TO THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THIS AFTERNOON. MOST
OF THE SHOWERS ARE ORGANIZED INTO NORTH-TO-SOUTH BANDS FROM OAHU TO
MAUI. AFTERNOON SOUNDINGS SHOW THE BOUNDARY LAYER IS QUITE
MOIST...WITH ABOUT 1.5 INCHES OF PRECIPITABLE WATER NOTED AT HILO.
K-INDICES ARE HIGH...IN THE UPPER 20S...BUT 500 MB TEMPS ARE WARM AT
ABOUT MINUS 9 DEGREES C. IN OTHER WORDS...OUR AIRMASS IS MOIST BUT
ONLY MODERATELY UNSTABLE. THE OVERALL RESULT WILL LIKELY BE
SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS OVER THE CENTRAL ISLANDS BUT NO DEEP
CONVECTION NEEDED FOR THUNDERSTORMS. SATELLITE IMAGERY HINTS THAT
KAUAI AND THE BIG ISLAND WILL SEE FEWER SHOWERS...AT LEAST IN THE
NEAR TERM.

THE LOW WILL REMAIN IN PLACE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS OR SO...BUT IT
WILL WEAKEN AND OPEN INTO A TROUGH BY LATE TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE
MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE DATELINE NEAR 30N WILL STRENGTHEN TO 1035
MB AS IT PASSES NORTH OF THE ISLANDS WEDNESDAY. CENTERED NEAR 38N BY
THAT TIME...THIS HIGH WILL INDUCE A STRONG ENOUGH TRADE WIND FIELD
IN OUR AREA TO PUSH WHATEVER IS LEFT OF THE LOW WESTWARD BEYOND
160W.

OUR AIRMASS WILL REMAIN MOIST EVEN WHEN TRADES RETURN. LAYERED
CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ALONG A STATIONARY FRONT EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND
WILL BE PUSHED WESTWARD OVER THE STATE...MAKING THE RETURNING TRADE
FLOW WET AND SHOWERY INTO NEXT WEEKEND. WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS
WILL SEE THE BULK OF THESE TRADE SHOWERS...BUT 20 TO 25 MPH TRADE
WINDS BY THE WEEKEND MAY PUSH SHOWERS OVER LEEWARD AREAS AS WELL AT
TIMES.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
HIGH SURF ADVISORY.....NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES KAUAI OAHU
                       MOLOKAI AND MAUI AS WELL AS WEST FACING
                       SHORES BIG ISLAND AT OF 4 PM HST
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...WATERS AND CHANNELS AROUND MAUI AND THE BIG
                       ISLAND

POWELL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 7:30 PM HSTFlash Flood WarningHFOHonolulu, Kauai2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Hawaii, 2004Every 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.