Flash Flood, Honolulu
- When
- November 5, 12:00 PM HST to 6:00 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, Ewa/Pearl City/Aiea
- Crop damage
- $20,000
- Coordinates
- 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, November 5, 1996
Heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding in Ewa, Honolai Hale, and the Pearl City/Aiea areas. 5 inches over ungaged areas of the Ewa Plain.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- $20,000
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
Heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding in Ewa, Honolai Hale, and the Pearl City/Aiea areas. Maximum WSR-88D rainfall estimates were 12.5 inches over ungaged areas of the Ewa Plain. Kunia received 3.74 inches in 2 hours, a rate statistically expected only once in 100 years. People were evacuated from their homes along Renton and Puuloa Roads. Rain destroyed some small farms in the Pearlridge area. Runoff from the Waianae Mountains near Honolai Hale closed the H1 Freeway in both directions. The flood carried mud, rocks, and debris onto the highway, cutting the Leeward Coast off from the rest of Oahu for several hours. Rainfall totals (in inches) for the period 1000 to 1700 HST include: Ewa Beach 12.10, Kunia Substation 8.50, Palisades 8.00, Waiwa 7.15, Waipio 5.87, and Mililani 5.54.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Rain in Hawaii, November 5 to 16, 1996
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, November 5, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, November 5 to 6, 1996
- Heavy Snow in North Dakota, November 5 to 6, 1996
- High Wind in Kansas, November 5, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, November 5, 1996
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, November 5, 1996
- Flood in Hawaii, November 5, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, November 5, 1996
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, November 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5583216.