Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, August 30, 2002
Start: 2002-08-30T09:50
End: 2002-08-30T12:50
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
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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 and rain produced minor drainage ditch and stream flooding and ponding of roadways in western parts of Puna and eastern areas of Kau. However, there were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.

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 30, 9:29 AM HST, 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 9:29 AM HST, 21 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST FRI AUG 30 2002

SUMMARY...A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE EXTENDS ACROSS THE
ISLANDS THIS MORNING...AND IS MOVING SLOWLY WESTWARD. SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TROUGH WILL AFFECT THE
ISLANDS TODAY...BUT WILL DIMINISH TONIGHT. EXPECT PERIODS OF
EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER AND SHOWERS INTO THIS EVENING. WINDS ARE LIGHT
AND VARIABLE NOW BUT ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME TRADES 10 TO 20 MPH
LATER TODAY AS THE SURFACE TROUGH SLIPS TOWARDS THE WEST. SLIGHTLY
DRIER AIR WILL MOVE IN FROM THE EAST WITH THE TRADE WINDS FOR
PLEASANT WEATHER OVER THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND.

DISCUSSION...OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS SHOW VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS
ACROSS THE ISLANDS. K-INDICES APPROACHING 40 ARE NOTED...WITH
LIFTED INDICES BETWEEN MINUS 3.6 AND MINUS 5.1. SATELLITE IMAGERY
SHOWS THE DEEP REMNANT LOW 650 MILES NORTH OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN
ISLANDS...WITH A SURFACE TROUGH...MARKING THE ADVANCING EDGE OF THE
RETURNING TRADES...EXTENDING SOUTHWARD OVER THE ALOHA STATE. THE
RESURGING TRADES PUSHING INTO SLOWER-MOVING AIR WEST OF THE TROUGH
AXIS HAS GENERATED A SURFACE CONVERGENCE BAND OVER THE BIG ISLAND
AND THE ISLAND OF MAUI THIS MORNING. ADDITIONALLY...A THIN BAND OF
HIGH CLOUDS PASSING QUICKLY OVER THE STATE BETRAYS THE PRESENCE OF A
SUBTROPICAL JETSTREAM. ALL OF THESE WEATHER FEATURES MAKE POSSIBLE A
DAY REPLETE WITH CLOUDS...SHOWERS AND EVEN THUNDERSTORMS.
IMMEDIATELY EAST OF THIS CONVERGENCE BAND...100 MILES OR SO EAST OF
THE BIG ISLAND...SKIES CLEAR OUT QUICKLY AND ONLY SCATTERED CUMULUS
AND STRATOCUMULUS ARE NOTED. THE TRADE WINDS ARE RETURNING...BUT
UNFORTUNATELY THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS MUST ENDURE A DAY OF CLOUDS
AND SHOWERS TO MARK THEIR RETURN. DRIER CONDITIONS WILL BEGIN TO
MOVE ACROSS THE STATE IN THE WAKE OF THESE SHOWERS AS THE
CONVERGENCE BAND MOVES WEST AND EVENTUALLY LEAVES THE STATE TONIGHT.
RESIDUAL CLOUDS AND SHOWERS MAY AFFECT THE STATE THROUGH THIS
EVENING.

BEYOND TONIGHT...THE FORECAST PHILOSOPHY FROM EARLIER STILL HOLDS.
MODELS SHOW THE DEEP LOW TO OUR NORTH MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST OVER
THE WEEKEND...DRAGGING THE TROUGH NOW OVER US ALONG WITH IT. WITH NO
INTERRUPTING LOW FORECAST TO DIG INTO THE RIDGE...WE CAN EXPECT
TRADE WINDS TO REMAIN IN THE 10 TO 20 MPH RANGE THROUGH THE FORECAST
PERIOD.

POWELL

.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, Hawaii

When: August 30, 9:50 AM HST to 12:50 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Volcano
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, 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: 5324935.