Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, December 1, 2003
Start: 2003-12-01T19:00
End: 2003-12-01T21:45
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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 associated with a cold front produced minor stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding of roadways in northern and western parts of the Big Island of Hawaii. No serious injuries or property damage 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 Dec 1, 4:00 PM HST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 4:00 PM HST, 3 hours before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
4 PM HST MON DEC 01 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT HAS PASSED BY KAUAI AND OAHU...AND IS
EXPECTED TO STALL OVER MAUI COUNTY TONIGHT. HEAVY SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT ALONG AND
AHEAD OF THE FRONT. DRYER WEATHER WILL MOVE ACROSS THE ISLANDS
BEHIND THE COLD FRONT.

&&

.DISCUSSION...A LOW NORTH OF THE ISLANDS WILL MOVE EAST TO NEAR
30N 150W TONIGHT. IT WILL THEN MOVE RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHEAST AND
EVENTUALLY BE INCORPORATED INTO A LARGE LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA.
A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM THE LOW PASSED OVER KAUAI AND
OAHU...BUT IS FORECAST TO STALL SOMEWHERE OVER MAUI COUNTY TONIGHT.
THE CHANCE OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
THE NIGHT IN THE WARM AND MOIST AIR ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT.
OAHU AND KAUAI BEING BEHIND THE FRONT WILL SLOWLY DRY OUT. THE FRONT
WILL BE SLOW IN DISSIPATING HOWEVER...SO A CHANCE OF HEAVY SHOWERS
WILL LINGER OVER THE EASTERN HALF THE ISLAND CHAIN THROUGH TUESDAY.
A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN THE WAKE OF THE DEPARTING LOW
AND THE TRADES SHOULD BE BLOWING ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE BY THURSDAY.

.MARINE...ANOTHER NORTH SWELL WILL BE GENERATED IN THE FETCH AREA
WEST OF THE DEPARTING LOW...REACHING OUR NORTH AND MAYBE EAST SHORES
LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY MAY BE REQUIRED
FOR THAT EVENT.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

CRAIG

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: December 1, 7:00 PM HST to 9:45 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Kailua Kona
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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, December 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: 5327902.