Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, April 10, 2003
Start: 2003-04-10T14:10
End: 2003-04-10T17:10
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.

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Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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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 small stream and drainage ditch flooding in windward coastal and windward-facing mauka and upslope sections of West and East Maui. No serious property damage or injuries were reported.

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 Apr 10, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 10, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST THU APR 10 2003

SUMMARY...A RELATIVELY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL KEEP THE CHANCE FOR
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST TODAY. HIGH PRESSURE PASSING
BY TO THE NORTH WILL BOOST THE TRADE WINDS THIS WEEKEND. THE HIGH
WILL ALSO PUSH A SHEARLINE SOUTHWARD...BRINGING SHOWERS TO THE STATE
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.

DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A SMALL UPPER LEVEL
LOW CENTERED OVER THE BIG ISLAND. COOL TEMPERATURES ASSOCIATED WITH
THE LOW...ALONG WITH AFTERNOON HEATING...SET OFF THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTH KAUAI AND THE KONA SLOPES YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE
DEPARTURE OF THE LOW TO THE EAST DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS IS PAU HOWEVER. THIS IS BECAUSE THE LOW IS SITUATED IN
A TROPICAL UPPER TROPOSPHERIC TROUGH (TUTT) WHICH IS EXPECTED TO
KEEP THE AIRMASS OVER THE ISLANDS WET AND UNSTABLE THROUGH SATURDAY.

A SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVING EAST ALONG 35N WILL BOOST THE TRADE
WINDS AS IT PASSES NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE HIGH IS ALSO EXPECTED
TO PUSH AN OLD SHEARLINE SOUTH OVER THE ISLANDS. THE SHEARLINE WILL
SUPPLY THE MOISTURE AND COOL TEMPERATURES WITH THE TUTT WILL SUPPLY
THE INSTABILITY REQUIRED FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN FRIDAY AND THIS
WEEKEND. YOU CAN SEE ON INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY THUNDERSTORMS
LIKE A STRING OF PEARLS ALONG THE SHEARLINE LOCATED ABOUT 100 MILES
NORTH OF KAUAI. THE TUTT IS FORECAST TO BE REPLACED BY A RIDGE
RESULTING IN DRIER WEATHER COME MONDAY. CRAIG.

.HFO...NONE.

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, Maui

When: April 10, 2:10 PM HST to 5:10 PM HST
Where: Maui County, 9 mi NW of Wailuku
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 20.868, -156.617 (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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, April 2003

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: 5327475.