Heavy Rain, Kauai
- When
- March 12, 1:00 PM HST to 4:20 PM HST
- Where
- Kauai County, 3 mi N of Anahola
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 12, 2002
Heavy showers produced minor stream and drainage ditch flooding and ponding of roadways in and around Anahola in Kauai. There were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.
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
- 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 produced minor stream and drainage ditch flooding and ponding of roadways in and around Anahola in Kauai. 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 Mar 12, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST TUE MAR 12 2002 SUMMARY...HIGH CLOUDS THREATEN TO DIM THE SUNSHINE OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE TODAY...BUT LOW CLOUDS ARE SCARCE THIS MORNING. EXPECT INCREASING CLOUDS AND SHOWERS EACH AFTERNOON TODAY AND WEDNESDAY...FOLLOWED BY A RETURN TO TRADE WIND WEATHER AS LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS BECOME 10 TO 20 MPH EASTERLY TRADE WINDS BY THURSDAY. PLEASANT TRADE WIND WEATHER SHOULD CONTINUE UNTIL MIDWAY THROUGH THIS COMING WEEKEND...WITH A WETTER PATTERN EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY AS A FRONTAL SYSTEM AFFECTS THE STATE. DISCUSSION...HAWAII LIES ALONG THE FRINGE OF HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED ABOUT 1000 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE STATE. THIS POSITION USUALLY KEEPS THE STATE WITHIN WEAK EASTERLY TRADES OR LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS...AND THE LATTER IS THE CASE TODAY. A WEAK INVERTED TROUGH PASSING JUST SOUTH OF THE ISLANDS HAS SHIFTED OUR WINDS AWAY FROM TRADES...AND THE WEAKENED PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL SUPPORT ONLY 5 TO 15 MPH WIND VELOCITIES. THIS MEANS THAT LEEWARD AREAS WILL PROBABLY SEE THE ONSET OF SEABREEZES EACH AFTERNOON TODAY AND WEDNESDAY. AFTER THAT...THE WEAK INVERTED TROUGH WILL PASS FAR ENOUGH WEST TO SWING OUR WINDS BACK TO EASTERLY TRADES. WIND SPEEDS IN THE 10 TO 20 MPH RANGE ARE EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY. TRADES WILL CONTINUE UNTIL SATURDAY AFTERNOON...AFTER WHICH WINDS WILL BEGIN TO VEER AND BLOW FROM THE SOUTHEAST AGAIN AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM. THE MODEL ENSEMBLE IS IN FAIR AGREEMENT ABOUT THE TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...BUT THEY DIFFER ABOUT RAINFALL AMOUNTS. NOGAPS HAS THE FRONT PASSING THROUGH MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE STATE BY SUNDAY EVENING...WHILE THE AVN/MRF SUITE STALLS THE FRONT OVER THE CENTRAL ISLANDS. THE LATTER SETUP IS MUCH WETTER...WITH 1 TO 2.5 INCHES OF MEAN RAINFALL. THE LATTER SETUP ALSO MEANS THE RAIN EVENT WOULD BE MORE PROLONGED...LASTING INTO MONDAY AND TUESDAY. ACTUAL FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH THE FORMER SETUP WOULD SWITCH THE ISLANDS INTO A POSTFRONTAL ENVIRONMENT OF NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS AND DRYING BY MONDAY MORNING. AT THIS POINT...ITS SAFE TO SAY THAT SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY WILL BE WET...SO SHOWERS WILL REMAIN IN THE FORECAST. MONDAY WILL ALSO BE FORECAST SHOWERY. POWELL .HFO...WARNINGS.....NONE . WATCHES......NONE . ADVISORIES...NONE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Avalanche in Idaho, March 12, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, March 12, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 12, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, March 12, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 12, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 12, 2002
- Dense Fog in Oklahoma, March 12, 2002
- High Surf in California, March 12, 2002
- Hail in Mississippi, March 12, 2002
- Hail in Georgia, March 12, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 12 to 13, 2002
- Hail in Texas, March 12, 2002
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 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: 5287334.