Name: Flood in Hawaii, January 29, 2002
Start: 2002-01-29T17:45
End: 2002-01-29T20:00
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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 generated ponding of roadways and minor drainage ditch and stream flooding in windward and southeast sections of East Maui. However, there were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.

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, 5:00 PM HST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 5:00 PM HST, 45 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
5 PM 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. RAINFALL IS HEAVIEST AT THIS TIME ALONG THE
BIG ISLAND KAU AND PUNA AND HILO DISTRICTS WHERE THE SOUTHEAST AND
EAST WINDS MOVE INLAND OVER THE SLOPING TERRAIN. THE WINDS WILL
BECOME MORE TRADE LIKE WITH TIME...THAT IS...THEY WILL BECOME MORE
EASTERLY FROM THE PRESENT SOUTHEAST DIRECTION. THIS WILL MOVE THE
RAINFALL TO THE MORE EASTWARD FACING SLOPES SUCH AS THE HAMAKUA
COAST AND EAST MAUI SLOPES OF HALEAKALA. STRONG EASTERLY WINDS NEAR
30 MPH ARE PRESENT JUST EAST OF THE STATE. THESE WINDS WILL LIKELY
OVERSPREAD THE ISLANDS DURING THE NIGHT AND TOMORROW AS THE KONA LOW
OUT TO THE WEST MOVES AWAY WESTWARD AND WEAKENS AND THE HIGH TO THE
NORTH SPREADS ITS INFLUENCE INTO OUR AREA. THE EASTERLY SWELL WILL
ALSO INCREASE AS THESE WINDS ARRIVE.  ROSENDAL

.HFO.....WARNINGS.....FLASH FLOOD  KAU..PUNA AND HILO.
.        WATCHES......FLOOD OAHU MOLOKAI LANAI MAUI AND BIG ISLAND
.        ADVISORIES...WIND FOR ALL ISLANDS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Maui

When: January 29, 5:45 PM HST to 8:00 PM HST
Where: Maui County, Pauwela
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 20.868, -156.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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: 5278608.