Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, April 29, 2002
Start: 2002-04-29T08:30
End: 2002-04-29T17:30
Location: Hawaii

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

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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 being produced by a westward-moving surface trough caused minor drainage ditch and stream flooding and ponding of roadways in the Hilo, Puna, and Kau districts on the Big Island of Hawaii. Limited stretches of the Hawaii Belt Road between Volcano and Naalehu were closed for a time due to flooding. No serious property damage or injuries were reported.

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 29, 4:19 AM HST, 4 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 4:19 AM HST, 4 hours 11 minutes before

NARRATIVE SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION FOR AMERICAN SAMOA AND THE INDEPENDENT
STATE OF SAMOA

TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY...

SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWED THE REMNANTS OF A LARGE THUNDERSTORM
DISSIPATING OVER PAGO PAGO AS THEY DRIFTED TOWARD THE NORTH. A BAND
OF MIDDLE TO HIGH LAYERED CLOUDS ABOUT 90 NM WIDE EXTENDED OVER 300
NM EAST SOUTHEAST FROM THERE. OTHERWISE...ONLY ISOLATED SMALL
CUMULUS CLOUDS WERE PRESENT NEAR THE SAMOAN ISLANDS.

LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH STRONGER CONVECTIVE
ACTIVITY REMAINING WELL TO THE EAST OF THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. DURING
THE NIGHT AND MORNING...SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY CLEAR WITH ONLY PASSING
LIGHT SHOWERS. HOWEVER...A PREVAILING WEAK EASTERLY WIND AT 10 KT OR
LESS WILL ENCOURAGE THE FORMATION OF SEA BREEZES EACH AFTERNOON...
TYPICALLY ACCOMPANIED BY SHOWERY CLOUD BUILDUPS OVER HIGHER TERRAIN.

A HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH SHORES OF AMERICAN
SAMOA. A SOUTHEAST SWELL OF 7 TO 9 FEET WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT ALL
THE SAMOAN ISLANDS...DIMINISHING ONLY SLIGHTLY THROUGH THE PERIOD.

OUTLOOK FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
EXPECT LITTLE CHANGE THROUGH THE OUTLOOK PERIOD.

NARRATIVE DISCUSSION FOR TUVALU

TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...TUVALU TIME...
SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWED PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER TUVALU...MOSTLY SOUTH AND WEST OF FUNAFUTI.
THE WIND WAS EASTERLY AT AROUND 10 KT. LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED
THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND ONLY ISOLATED
SHOWERS THROUGH THE PERIOD.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Hawaii

When: April 29, 8:30 AM HST to 5:30 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Laupahoehoe
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 19.602, -155.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, April 2002

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: 5289119.