Flash Flood, Maui
- When
- November 27, 3:40 AM HST to 5:45 AM HST
- Where
- Maui County, Kaunakakai
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 20.868, -156.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, November 27, 2001
Heavy rain, showers, and isolated thunderstorms flooded roadways and closed a community recreation area, One Alii Park, due to high water. The heavy rainfall also forced the closure of schools throughout Molokai.
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 rain, showers, and isolated thunderstorms flooded roadways and closed a community recreation area, One Alii Park, due to high water. The heavy rainfall also forced the closure of schools throughout Molokai. There were no reports of serious injuries, however.
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 Nov 27, 3:09 AM HST, 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 27, 3:09 AM HST, 31 minutes before
NARRATIVE SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION FOR AMERICAN SAMOA AND THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF SAMOA TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... THE SATELLITE SHOWS A LONG BAND OF CLOUDS EXTENDING FROM SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE SAMOA ISLANDS TO SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES NORTHWEST OF FUNAFUTI. THE CLOUD BAND JUST TOUCHES YOUR ISLANDS. MOST OF THE WEATHER IS TO THE NORTH. THE BAND CONTAINS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A LARGE UPPER LEVEL LOW THAT IS NEARLY STATIONARY DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD. THE LATEST AVN MODEL RUN DOES NOT BRING MUCH RAINFALL OVER YOU. EXPECT PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH A FEW SHOWERS. EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS 10 KT OR LESS DURING THE DAY AND LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT NIGHT. SOUTHERLY SWELL 3 TO 4 FT. OUTLOOK FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... A WEAK SURFACE RIDGE WILL BRING LIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS. WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN AND VEER TO THE EAST THEN THE SOUTHEAST BY SATURDAY WITH SPEEDS OF 10 TO 15 KT. EXPECT CONTINUED PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH A FEW SHOWERS. NARRATIVE DISCUSSION FOR TUVALU TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY...TUVALU TIME... SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A BAND OF CLOUDS WITH EMBEDDED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS YOUR AREA. THIS WEATHER IS ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK SURFACE LOW. EXPECT MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. WINDS WILL BE VARIABLE 10 KT AS THE LOW MEANDERS ACROSS THE AREA.
The radar
The Molokai radar (PHMO), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:39 UTC.
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
- Dense Fog in South Carolina, November 27, 2001
- Winter Storm in Missouri, November 27 to 28, 2001
- High Wind in California, November 27, 2001
- Ice Storm in Texas, November 27 to 29, 2001
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, November 27 to 28, 2001
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, November 27, 2001
- Winter Storm in Oregon, November 27 to 28, 2001
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Texas, November 27 to 28, 2001
- Winter Storm in Texas, November 27 to 28, 2001
- Frost and Freeze in California, November 27, 2001
- Dense Fog in California, November 27, 2001
- Dense Fog in California, November 27 to 28, 2001
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, November 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: 5273108.