Heavy Rain in Hawaii, August 13 to 14, 2002

Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, August 13 to 14, 2002
Start: 2002-08-13T22:45
End: 2002-08-14T02:00
Location: Hawaii

August 13 to 14, 2002 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy showers fell over Hana and the mountain slopes to the west of town. This produced ponding of roadways and minor flooding of streams and drainage ditches in Hana and surrounding areas.

Where it happened

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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 fell over Hana and the mountain slopes to the west of town. This produced ponding of roadways and minor flooding of streams and drainage ditches in Hana and surrounding areas. No serious injuries or property damage 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 Aug 13, 8:30 PM HST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 8:30 PM HST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST TUE AUG 13 2002

SUMMARY...A THICK COVER OF MOSTLY HIGH CLOUDS IS OVER THE HAWAIIAN
ISLANDS. A FEW HEAVY SHOWERS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS CLOUD MASS. MOST
OF THESE SHOWERS ARE LOCATED OFFSHORE. HOWEVER SOME ARE LOCATED
ALONG THE HAMAKUA COAST NORTH OF HILO THIS EVENING AND SOME OVER
EAST MAUI NEAR HANA.  THE AIR MASS REMAINS MOIST AND UNSTABLE.

DISCUSSION...LOW PRESSURE TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS HAS CAUSED
THE LOW LEVEL WINDS TO BECOME WEAK SOUTHEASTERLIES OVER MUCH OF THE
STATE. THESE WINDS RATHER QUICKLY BECOMING SOUTHERLIES AND
SOUTHWESTERLIES WITH HEIGHT.  THE UPPER LEVEL SOUTHWESTERLIES ARE
ALSO VERY MOIST AND THE CLOUDINESS CARRIED ALONG BY THE WINDS
CONSISTS OF SLOWLY FALLING ICE CRYSTALS WHICH IS WHAT WE CALL CIRRUS
CLOUDS. THESE ICE CRYSTALS CLOUDS ARE SOME TIMES CAUSED BY DEEP
CONVECTION UPSTREAM OR THEY MAY HAVE DEVELOPED LOCALLY AS THE MOIST
LAYERS ARE SLOWLY LIFTED AND COOLED TO BELOW THE CONDENSATION OR
SUBLIMATION TEMPERATURES. IN ANY EVENT THE CIRRUS CLOUDS WILL
LIKELY BE WITH US A FEW MORE DAYS AS LONG AS WE HAVE A SUBTROPICAL
JET FLOWING SW TO NE TO THE WEST OF THE STATE WITH THE CIRRUS
LOCATED ON THE ANTICYCLONIC SHEAR SIDE OF THE JET STREAM.

THE LARGER SCALE LOW LEVEL FLOW IS QUITE STRONGLY ANTICYCLONICALLY
CURVED COMING OUT OF THE EAST NEAR THE BIG ISLAND AND OUT OF THE
SOUTH NEAR KAUAI. THIS CURVATURE IS LIKELY ENOUGH TO PREVENT STRONG
CONVERGENCE AND WIDESPREAD SHOWER ACTIVITY. THERE ARE HOWEVER SMALL
CYCLONIC DENTS IN THE RIDGE AND AREAS OF CYCLONIC SHEAR TO CAUSE
SOME SHOWERS HERE AND THERE. TERRAIN ALSO CAUSE STRANGE THINGS IN
THE DIVERGENCE FIELD. THUS THE FORECAST WILL CONTINUE TO MENTION THE
THREAT OF AN ISOLATED HEAVY SHOWER OR TWO. BY THURSDAY WE EXPECT
MORE NEARLY NORMAL TRADES TO SETTLE IN. HOWEVER EVEN THEN WE WILL
HAVE A WEAKNESS TO THE NORTHEAST OF HERE WITHIN THE RIDGE TO KEEP
THE WINDS LIGHT.  ROSENDAL

.HFO...WARNINGS...WATCHES...ADVISORIES...NONE

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, Maui

When: August 13, 10:45 PM HST to August 14, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Maui County, 2 mi W of Hana
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 20.868, -156.617 (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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, August 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: 5324931.