Flash Flood, Kauai
- When
- July 26, 1:15 AM HST to 9:35 AM HST
- Where
- Kauai County, Hanalei
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, July 26, 2003
Heavy showers and thunderstorms produced ponding of roadways, and drainage ditch and small stream flooding in north and northeast parts of Kauai. Police closed the bridge over the Hanalei River near the town of Hanalei for a time because of high water near the bridge and along the road leading to and from the span.
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
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 produced ponding of roadways, and drainage ditch and small stream flooding in north and northeast parts of Kauai. Police closed the bridge over the Hanalei River near the town of Hanalei for a time because of high water near the bridge and along the road leading to and from the span. 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 Jul 25, 8:30 PM HST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 8:30 PM HST, 4 hours 45 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 830 PM HST FRI JUL 25 2003 SUMMARY...WARM HUMID AND UNSTABLE AIR...ALONG WITH LIGHT WINDS... MAY GENERATE HEAVY RAIN THIS WEEKEND. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FAVOR THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. DRYER TRADE WIND WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO RETURN MONDAY. DISCUSSION...A CUTOFF UPPER LEVEL LOW...A BIT UNUSUAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR...IS ABOUT 700 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI AND MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHWEST. MODELS SAY THAT IT WILL MAKE A SHARP TURN TO THE LEFT DURING THE NEXT 36 HOURS THEN LIFT OUT TO THE NORTH. AN INVERTED SURFACE TROUGH...A REFLECTION OF THE LOW ALOFT...IS LOCATED WEST OF THE ISLANDS. A REGULAR TROUGH ASSUMES THE SHAPE OF THE CAPITAL LETTER V...WITH THE WINDS TURNING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHWEST AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE TROUGH AXIS. AN INVERTED TROUGH HAS THE WINDS TURNING FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHEAST AS THEY PASS ACROSS THE TROUGH AXIS. WITH THE INVERTED TROUGH TO OUR WEST...WE ARE THUS IN A SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW PARALLEL TO THE ISLAND CHAIN. THIS PLACES THE SMALL ISLANDS IN THE WIND SHADOW OF THE BIG VOLCANOES ON MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. WHEN THE WINDS ARE LIGHT...WE ARE IN WHAT IS CALLED A CONVECTIVE PATTERN WITH PRECIPITATION FAVORING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS RATHER THAN THE NIGHT AND MORNING HOURS WHEN THE TRADES ARE BLOWING. WITH THE LOW DESTABILIZING THE ATMOSPHERE AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE COMING UP FROM THE SOUTHEAST...CONDITIONS ARE RIPE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH AFTERNOON HEATING. WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MONDAY FOR THE UPPER LOW TO EXIT NORTH AND THE SURFACE TROUGH TO FILL FOR US TO RETURN TO TRADE WINDS. CRAIG. .HFO...WARNINGS.....NONE . ADVISORIES...NONE . WATCHES......NONE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Wyoming, July 26, 2003
- Heat in Missouri, July 26 to 27, 2003
- Hail in Oregon, July 26, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 26, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 26, 2003
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 26, 2003
- Damaging Wind in New Mexico, July 26, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 26, 2003
- Heat in Kansas, July 26 to 27, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 26, 2003
- Tornado and Hail in Montana, July 26, 2003
- Flash Flooding in Oregon, July 26, 2003
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, July 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: 5327702.