Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, January 20, 2002
Start: 2002-01-20T01:25
End: 2002-01-20T03:30
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 generated ponding of roadways and minor drainage ditch and stream flooding in Maui along the Hana Road from Huelo to Nahiku. 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 Jan 19, 8:30 PM HST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 19, 8:30 PM HST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST SAT JAN 19 2002

SUMMARY...WITH THE HIGH TO OUR NORTH STILL A STRONG 1038MB CENTER...
THE WINDY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY. WINDS WILL BE WEAKENING
GRADUALLY...NEAR THE BIG ISLAND ON SUNDAY...THEN GRADUALLY UP THE
ISLAND CHAIN TO KAUAI ON MONDAY. BUT WITH THE CONTINUED INFLUENCE
OF THE KONA LOW OVER THE STATE...HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN INGREDIANTS IN OUR FORECAST RIGHT THROUGH
THE WEEK...ALBEIT WITH GRADUALLY WEAKENING WINDS.

DISCUSSION...THE UPPER LEVEL KONA LOW THAT IS NOW FIRMLY IN CONTROL
OF OUR WEATHER IS BEGINNING TO HAVE ITS EFFECT ON THE STRONG SURFACE
TRADE WIND FLOW. A SLIGHT WEAKENING OF WINDS AROUND THE BIG ISLAND
THIS EVENING IS A RESULT OF LOWERING PRESSURES OVER THE ISLANDS...
ONE DIRECT RESULT OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LOWER PRESSURE AT HIGHER
ALTITUDES. AS THIS KONA LOW GRADUALLY MIGRATES WESTWARD OVER THE
NEXT FEW DAYS...THE DIVERGENT SOUTHWEST FLOW ON ITS EASTERN FLANK
WILL CONTINUE TO LOWER SURFACE PRESSURES...EVENTUALLY DEVELOPING A
SURFACE TROUGH OVER OR JUST WEST OF THE ISLANDS BY MONDAY NIGHT AND
TUESDAY. THE FLOW THROUGHOUT THE LOWER LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL
ALSO BEGIN TURNING SOUTHERLY SOUTH OF THE ISLAND ABOUT THIS TIME...
AND THIS WILL BRING COPIOUS TROPICAL MOISTURE UP OVER THE ISLANDS TO
INCREASE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY
OF THE COMING WEEK. THUS...WHILE THE ISLANDS ARE ENJOYING A SORT OF
HIATUS FROM THE HEAVY SHOWERS THIS EVENING...THE ADVENT OF MOISTURE
FIRST FROM THE EAST AND THEN FROM THE SOUTH...WILL KEEP OUR WEATHER
ON THE WET AND WILD SIDE RIGHT THROUGH THE COMING WEEK. AS FOR THE
LARGE SURF ALONG EASTERN SHORES...THE GRADUAL DECREASE IN WINDS OVER
THE ISLANDS AND TO OUR EAST WILL RESULT IN A GRADUAL DECREASE IN THE
SIZE OF THIS SURF. THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WILL LIKELY SEE THE HIGH
SURF ADVISORIES CONTINUE HOWEVER...BUT THE WARNING FOR THE
EAST-FACING BIG ISLAND SHORES MAY COME DOWN SOMETIME ON SUNDAY.
FARRELL

.HFO.....WARNINGS.....GALES ALL CHANNELS
.                     WINTER STORM BIG ISLAND SUMMITS
.                     HIGH SURF EAST SHORES BIG ISLAND
.        WATCHES......NONE
.        ADVISORIES...SMALL CRAFT REMAINING WATERS
.                     WIND ALL ISLANDS
.                     HIGH SURF EAST SHORES KAUAI TO MAUI

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: January 20, 1:25 AM HST to 3:30 AM HST
Where: Maui County, 7 mi NW of Keanae
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

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, January 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: 5278523.