Flash Flood, Kauai
- When
- April 2, 12:30 PM HST to 4:10 PM HST
- Where
- Kauai County, Hanalei
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, April 2, 2001
Heavy showers and thunderstorms--induced by an upper low southwest of Kauai--poured about 6 to 8 inches of rain (radar estimates) on northwestern parts of the isle. Segments of both the Kuhio and Kaumualii highways were closed for a time due to high waters flowing across the roadways.
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
- None recorded
- 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 showers and thunderstorms--induced by an upper low southwest of Kauai--poured about 6 to 8 inches of rain (radar estimates) on northwestern parts of the isle. Segments of both the Kuhio and Kaumualii highways were closed for a time due to high waters flowing across the roadways. The Manoa Stream near Haena Beach Park ran so deep that the highway to Haena was closed for a while as well. Also, the road east of Fort Elizabeth, the "Russian Fort", at Waimea was closed temporarily due to water and debris washing across it. Water was more than two feet deep in low-lying areas of Waimea's business district. Police said that there were no reports of homes flooded, although a few businesses in Waimea suffered some damages (of an unknown dollar amount) and were still mopping out their store fronts as the weather improved later that afternoon.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Apr 2, 9:16 AM HST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 9:16 AM HST, 3 hours 14 minutes before
AFDHI HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST MON APR 2 2001 SUMMARY...TRADE WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN AS A SURFACE TROUGH MOVES TO THE WEST OF KAUAI AND HIGH PRESSURE REBUILDS NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. SHOWERS WILL LINGER OVER KAUAI INTO EARLY AFTERNOON...BUT THE OTHER ISLANDS WILL SEE ONLY HIGH CLOUDS THROUGH THE DAY WITH SOME INCREASE IN TRADE SHOWERS WINDWARD AND MAUKA TOWARD EVENING. DISCUSSION...A K-INDEX OF 32...LIFTED INDEX OF -7.4 AND A RATHER LARGE THUNDERSTORM JUST TO THE NORTH OF KAUAI ARE INDICATIVE OF LEFT-OVER INSTABILITY OVER THE WESTERN END OF THE STATE. THUS WILL KEEP SHOWERS INTO EARLY AFTERNOON OVER THAT ISLANDS...BUT DRY THINGS A BIT FOR THE AFTERNOON ELSEWHERE. HIGH CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER ALL ISLANDS...THICKEST OVER KAUAI AND OAHU...THROUGHOUT THE DAY. A SURFACE TROUGH TO THE WEST OF KAUAI WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE WEST AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS NORTH OF THE ISLANDS...AND THIS WILL CAUSE OUR TRADE WINDS TO STRENGTHEN INTO TUESDAY. ANOTHER WEAKNESS AS A FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST LATER THIS WEEK MAY WEAKEN WINDS ONCE AGAIN...BUT MORE ON THIS LATER. MODELS ARE CURRENTLY IN SOME DISAGREEMENT OVER THE POSITIONING OF A DEVELOPING LOW TO THE WEST OF THE ISLANDS...BUT THERE IS SOME INDICATION THAT WINDS WILL TURN SOUTHEAST AND LIGHTEN SOMEWHAT THURSDAY NIGHT OR FRIDAY. THIS ORGANIZATION TO OUR WEST AND RISING PRESSURES OVER THE ISLANDS WILL LIKELY BRING MORE SUNSHINE TO THE BEACHES BY TUESDAY. AS FOR THE SITUATION LATER IN THE WEEK...STAY TUNED. FARRELL .PHFO.....WARNINGS.....NONE . WATCHES......NONE . ADVISORIES...NiONE
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
- Winter Storm in Colorado, April 2 to 5, 2001
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Alaska, April 2 to 4, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, April 2, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, April 2, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, April 2, 2001
- Hail in Kansas, April 2, 2001
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, April 2 to 4, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Montana, April 2 to 3, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Oregon, April 2, 2001
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, April 2 to 3, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, April 2, 2001
- High Wind in North Carolina, April 2, 2001
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, April 2001
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: 5242116.