Alert archive / Hawaii / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 42, NWS Honolulu, HI

March 15, 2004Kauai County, Hawaii

NWS Honolulu, HI issued this flash flood warning at Mar 15, 2004, 1:00 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
Mar 15, 2004, 1:00 PM HST (23:00 UTC)
Expired
Mar 15, 2004, 4:00 PM 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 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 10 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 12:00Z on 2004-03-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 63 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 12:00Z on 2004-03-15The 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
63 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-109 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 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 152249
FFWHI 
HIZ004-160200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
100 PM HST MON MAR 15 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS CONTINUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
  NORTH AND EAST HAWAII INCLUDING HILO AND PUNA

* UNTIL 400 PM HST

* AT 1250 PM HST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THAT THE HEAVY RAIN HAS 
  DECREASED. RUNOFF AND STREAM LEVELS WILL...HOWEVER...REMAIN HIGH 
  FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM HAS ALREADY CAUSED 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. 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.

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

LAT...LON 1992 15500 1974 15544 1926 15517 1947 15474
$$

CRAIG/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 15, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST MON MAR 15 2004

.SYNOPSIS...
HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN IN THE FORECAST FOR THE BIG
ISLAND THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A SHEARLINE NEAR THE BIG ISLAND WILL KEEP
CONDITIONS UNSTABLE THERE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WORK WEEK. THE
SMALLER ISLANDS WILL SEE DRY WEATHER AND BRISK TRADE WINDS.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A SHEARLINE ORIENTED NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST OVER THE BIG ISLAND WILL
TRIGGER HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. THE HEAVY RAIN
WILL FAVOR THE WINDWARD OR HILO SIDE OF THE ISLAND BECAUSE OF THE
PREVAILING NORTHEAST WINDS. THE LEEWARD OR KONA SIDE WILL FOLLOW A
CONVECTIVE PATTERN WITH DAYTIME SEA BREEZES AND NIGHTTIME LAND
BREEZES WITH SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY THUNDERSTORMS FORMING DURING THE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS.

FOR THE SMALLER ISLANDS...STRATOCUMULUS CLOUDS WILL STACK UP OVER
WINDWARD SECTIONS LEAVING LEEWARD SECTIONS UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES.
LITTLE OR NO SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED BECAUSE A LOW SUBSIDENCE INVERSION
NEAR 5000 FEET. THE NORTHEAST WINDS WILL BE NOTICEABLY STRONGER OVER
KAUAI AND OAHU BECAUSE OF A TIGHTER PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THEM
AND A SURFACE HIGH TO THE NORTHWEST.

PROGS SAY THAT A LOW NORTHEAST OF HAWAII WILL NOT MOVE MUCH THROUGH
THURSDAY...ALLOWING THE SHEARLINE TO REMAIN ALMOST STATIONARY OVER
OR JUST SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND. THE THREAT OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ON THE BIG ISLAND WILL REMAIN IN THE FORECAST THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...BUT MAY HAVE TO BE ADDED TO THE THURSDAY FORECAST AS
WELL.

THE 1031 MB HIGH NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS HAS BEEN BLOCKED FROM
MOVING EASTWARD BY THE LOW. THE STATIC PATTERN WILL CONTINUE UNTIL
FRIDAY...WHEN THE LOW FINALLY LIFTS OUT TO THE NORTHEAST. THE HIGH
WILL HAVE LIFTED NORTHWARD AS WELL...BUT MODELS SHOW AN ASSOCIATED
RIDGE WILL FILL IN SOUTHEASTWARD BETWEEN THE LOW AND THE HAWAIIAN
ISLANDS AS THE LOW MOVES AWAY. BECAUSE THE RETURNING RIDGE WILL ONLY
BE AN EXTENSION OF A STRONG HIGH NORTH OF 40N...THE INDUCED TRADES
WILL LIKELY BE NOT AS STRONG AS THEY SPREAD EASTWARD AS THEY ARE NOW.

IN SUMMARY...THE FORECAST CALLS FOR CONTINUED BOUTS OF HEAVY SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE BIG ISLAND AT LEAST THROUGH MIDWEEK WHILE
THE SMALLER ISLANDS WILL SEE DRIER AND WINDIER CONDITIONS.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLOOD WATCH............ENTIRE BIG ISLAND
FLASH FLOOD WARNING....HILO AND PUNA UNTIL 1 PM
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS

CRAIG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 14, 2:50 PM HSTFlash Flood WarningHFOHonolulu, Kauai3 hr
Mar 15, 9:55 AM HSTFlash Flood WarningHFOKauai3 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.