Hawaii, 2002

Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 29, 2002

March 29, 2002 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy showers and thunderstorms caused ponding of roadways and minor stream and drainage ditch flooding over most of the Garden Isle of 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

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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 and thunderstorms caused ponding of roadways and minor stream and drainage ditch flooding over most of the Garden Isle of 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 29, 4:20 AM HST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 4:20 AM HST, 55 minutes before
NARRATIVE SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION FOR AMERICAN SAMOA AND THE INDEPENDENT
STATE OF SAMOA

TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWED AN ELONGATED AREA OF ISOLATED...BUT LOCALLY
STRONG...THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED ABOUT 200 NM NORTHEAST OF THE SAMOAN
ISLANDS. THIS AREA WAS ABOUT 375 NM WIDE FROM SOUTHWEST TO
NORTHEAST...AND ABOUT 1050 NM LONG FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST. IT
MOVED TOWARD THE WEST AT ABOUT 20 KNOTS. THIS AREA WAS QUITE
DISTINCT...AS OTHERWISE THE PREVAILING SOUTHEAST WIND CARRIED ONLY
SCATTERED CUMULUS CLOUDS AND ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWERS ACROSS THE
REGION.

LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY...AS THE OCCASIONAL
FAST-MOVING TROUGH MOVES THROUGH A REGION OF OTHERWISE BENIGN
WEATHER. THEREFORE...SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY CLEAR WITH ONLY ISOLATED
LIGHT SHOWERS MOST OF THE TIME...BUT ABOUT ONCE A DAY THERE WILL BE
A PERIOD OF SEVERAL HOURS WHEN CLOUD COVER WILL INCREASE...AND THERE
WILL BE A CHANCE OF MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. BASED
ON AVAILABLE GUIDANCE...THIS PERIOD OF INCREASED ACTIVITY WILL OCCUR
BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN EACH DAY. IN ANY CASE...THE WIND WILL
CONTINUE TO BLOW FROM THE EAST TO EAST SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 20 KNOTS
THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. THE SOUTHEASTERLY WIND WILL CONTINUE TO
PRODUCE SMALL TO MODERATE SWELL FROM THE SAME DIRECTION.

OUTLOOK FOR SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...
LITTLE FURTHER CHANGE IS EXPECTED...THOUGH THE PERIODIC TROUGHS
BECOME LESS FREQUENT DURING THE LATTER PART OF THIS PERIOD.

NARRATIVE DISCUSSION FOR TUVALU

TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...TUVALU TIME...
SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWED A MASS OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTH
PART OF THE COUNTRY...BUT OTHERWISE ONLY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS PREVAILED OVER TUVALU. LITTLE CHANGE IS
EXPECTED...WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES...SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS...AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING THROUGH THE PERIOD FOR MOST OF THE
ATOLLS. THE WIND WILL REMAIN AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS FROM THE EAST
SOUTHEAST.

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, Kauai

When
March 29, 5:15 AM HST to 8:55 AM HST
Where
Kauai County, Countywide
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
22.011, -159.705 (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 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: 5287424.