Flood in Puerto Rico, April 6, 2002

Name: Flood in Puerto Rico, April 6, 2002
Start: 2002-04-06T16:00
End: 2002-04-06T18:00
Location: Puerto Rico

April 6, 2002 · NWS SJU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rains occurred once again in the vicinity of Isabela due to daytime heating and local effects causing several roads to flood and some communities affected by water.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
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 SJU wrote it up.

Heavy rains occurred once again in the vicinity of Isabela due to daytime heating and local effects causing several roads to flood and some communities affected by water.

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 San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 6, 12:05 PM AST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 12:05 PM AST, 3 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1205 PM AST SAT APR 6 2002

EXPECT A FAIRLY BUSY AFTERNOON...AS POTENT MID TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
JUST TO OUR WEST-NORTHWEST COMBINES WITH MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR
MASS...DAYTIME HEATING...LOCAL SEA BREEZES AND OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS...
TO PRODUCE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND WIDELY SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECT PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND AT LEAST SOME
LOW LYING FLOODING IN A FEW LOCATIONS. ALSO...GIVEN VERY GOOD
DYNAMICS AND STRONG JET ALOFT...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A
COUPLE OF INTENSE BOOMERS...WITH STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. INHERITED ZFP HAD A PRETTY
GOOD HANDLE ON EXPECTED WEATHER FOR THIS AFTERNOON...BUT SENT A
QUICK UPDATE TO ALTER SKY COVER AND POPS IN A FEW ZONES AND TO
FRESHEN WORDING.

FOR COASTAL WATERS...MADE A FEW MINOR ALTERATIONS TO PREVIOUS CWF...
OTHERWISE NO CHANGES.

EQUIPMENT: STILL NOT RECEIVING RADAR DATA AT PUP DUE TO APPARENT
SPRINT LINE PROBLEM. TICKET REMAINS OPEN ON THIS.

SEELEY

.SJU...
.PR...NONE.
.VI...NONE.

WRITTEN TEXT FORECASTS (IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH)...SATELLITE IMAGERY
...DOPPLER RADAR DATA...AND A VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF WEATHER INFORMATION
CAN BE FOUND AT THE NWS SAN JUAN WEB SITE AT:

HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU (ALL LOWER CASE).

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northwest

When: April 6, 4:00 PM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where: Northwest County, Isabela
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

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

Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Puerto Rico, April 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: 5292826.