Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 17, 2002
Start: 2002-03-17T14:00
End: 2002-03-17T17:00
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

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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 being induced by a weakening cold front were falling across northern, eastern and southern parts of the Big Island of Hawaii. 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 Mar 17, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST SUN MAR 17 2002

SUMMARY...THE COLD FRONT HAS REACHED THE KOHALA MOUNTAINS ON THE
BIG ISLAND AT 10 AM THIS SUNDAY FORENOON. MISTY RAIN LINGERS ALONG
NORTH FACING SLOPES OF THE ISLANDS BEHIND THE FRONT FROM KAUAI TO
MAUI. HEAVY RAIN IS FALLING ALONG THE ROAD TO HANA.  LEE AREAS ARE
SEEING CONSIDERABLE SUNSHINE...AS WAS THE BIG ISLAND DURING THE
EARLY MORNING HOURS. GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS ARE AFFECTING ALL THE
ISLANDS BEHIND THE FRONT.

DISCUSSION...LOW PRESSURE IS FORMING TO THE NORTH OF THE ISLANDS
NEAR 33N 150W WHILE HIGH PRESSURE IS MOVING IN OVER OUR AREA FROM
THE WEST. PRESSURES HAVE RISEN ABOUT 4 MB IN THE PAST 24 HOURS OVER
KAUAI AND SLIGHTLY LESS ELSEWHERE...AND STRONG GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS
ARE PUSHING THE AIR AROUND IN RESPONSE TO THESE CHANGES IN PRESSURE.

THE FRONT HAS MOVED FROM THE ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL IN OVER THE
NORTHERN TIP OF THE BIG ISLAND WHERE HEAVY SHOWERS ARE SPREADING
ACROSS THE KOHALA MOUNTAINS AND INTO THE WAIPIO VALLEY. THE FRONT
IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE
BIG ISLAND TODAY AND TONIGHT. CONVECTION WILL LIKELY FLARE UP OVER
THE BIG ISLAND DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS AHEAD OF THE FRONT AS
SUNSHINE HAS BEEN PLENTIFUL THERE THIS MORNING. MISTY SHOWERS WILL
THEN LINGER FOR A WHILE BEHIND THE FRONT OVER THE KOHALA MOUNTAINS
AND ALONG THE NORTHFACING SLOPES OF MAUNA KEA ALONG THE HAMAKUA
COAST. ROSENDAL

.HFO...WARNINGS.....NONE
.      WATCHES......NONE
.      ADVISORIES...SMALL CRAFT ALL WATERS

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: March 17, 2:00 PM HST to 5:00 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Kamuela
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, 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: 5287419.