Flash Flood, Maui
- When
- January 29, 11:00 AM HST to 2:35 PM HST
- Where
- Maui County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 20.868, -156.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, January 29, 2002
Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms resulted in nine or ten luxury apartments being flooded near the Manele Golf Course on Lanai. In Maui, flood waters entered the basement of the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission.
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
- $2.5 million
- 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 isolated thunderstorms resulted in nine or ten luxury apartments being flooded near the Manele Golf Course on Lanai. In Maui, flood waters entered the basement of the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission. Some homes on Molokai and West Maui were also damaged. However, there were no reports of serious 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 29, 10:00 AM HST, 1 hour earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 10:00 AM HST, 1 hour before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST TUE JAN 29 2002 SUMMARY...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TO THE WEST OF HAWAII IS BRINGING MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR NORTHWARD ACROSS THE ISLANDS. THE LOW WILL REMAIN TO THE WEST AND MOVE AWAY WESTWARD TOMORROW TO DIMINISH THE RAIN AND SHOWERS BY THEN. MORE NORMAL TRADE WIND WEATHER WILL RETURN LATER THIS WEEK. DISCUSSION...THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WEST OF KAUAI IS DRIFTING WEST VERY SLOWLY...LEAVING THE STATE IN ITS VERY WET AND INCREASINGLY WINDY EASTERN FLANK. STEADY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE OVER MAUI COUNTY ISLANDS AND SOUTHEAST PORTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND THIS FORENOON WHILE KAUAI AND OAHU IS HAVING LESS RAINFALL AT THE MOMENT. RAINS HOWEVER WILL RETURN THOUGH LIKELY NOT AS HEAVILY TO THESE WESTERN ISLANDS AS THE LOW DRIFTS FARTHER WEST AND DRAGS THE CLOUD SHIELD AND MOISTURE WESTWARD WITH IT. A SMALL LOW IS PRESENTLY LOCATED OVER THE MAUI COUNTY ISLANDS WITH THE LOW LEVEL CONVECTIVE CELLS SHOWING A SLOW CYCLONIC SPIN. THIS ENHANCES THE CONVERGENCE AND TORRENTIAL SHOWERS ARE OCCURING FROM LANAI AND MOLOKAI INTO WEST MAUI. FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS HAVE THUS BEEN ISSUED FOR THAT AREA. VERY STRONG EASTERLY WINDS ARE PRESENT JUST NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF THE CHAIN AND THESE WINDS ARE SLOWLY SPREADING INTO THE ISLANDS. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SMALLER ISLANDS AT THIS TIME. THE EASTERLY SWELL WILL INCREASE AND MAY EXCEED THE ADVISORY THRESHOLD BY TONIGHT OR WEDNESDAY. ROSENDAL .HFO.....WARNINGS.....FLASH FLOOD LANAI...MOLOKAI AND WEST MAUI . WATCHES......FLOOD OAHU MOLOKAI LANAI MAUI AND BIG ISLAND . ADVISORIES...WIND FOR SMALLER ISLANDS
The radar
The Molokai radar (PHMO), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:02 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
- Winter Storm in Kansas, January 29 to 31, 2002
- Winter Storm in Kansas, January 29 to 31, 2002
- Ice Storm in Oklahoma, January 29 to 30, 2002
- Dense Fog in Georgia, January 29, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 29 to 31, 2002
- Ice Storm in Illinois, January 29 to 30, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, January 29 to 31, 2002
- Ice Storm in Missouri, January 29 to 30, 2002
- Strong Wind in Hawaii, January 29 to 30, 2002
- Ice Storm in Kansas, January 29 to 31, 2002
- Ice Storm in Texas, January 29 to 30, 2002
- Heavy Snow in California, January 29, 2002
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5278605.