Heavy Rain, Kauai
- When
- March 30, 12:45 AM HST to 3:45 AM HST
- Where
- Kauai County, Anahola
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 30, 2003
Heavy showers and rain produced ponding of roadways, and drainage ditch and stream flooding in eastern parts of the Garden Isle of Kauai. No serious injuries or property damage were reported, however.
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 rain produced ponding of roadways, and drainage ditch and stream flooding in eastern parts of the Garden Isle of Kauai. No serious injuries or property damage were reported, however.
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, 8:30 PM HST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 8:30 PM HST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 830 PM HST SAT MAR 29 2003 SUMMARY...UNSETTLED SHOWERY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY...THANKS TO A KONA LOW 900 TO 950 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. MOIST SOUTHERLY WIND FLOW ACROSS THE STATE MAKES CONDITIONS RIPE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS INTO NEXT WEEK. DISCUSSION...CONVERGENT SOUTHERLY FLOW REMAINS ACROSS THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THIS EVENING. MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH AN OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE EASTERN ISLANDS SPAWNED HEAVY SHOWERS OVER EAST MAUI AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND TODAY...AND SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW THIS ACTIVITY IS BEGINNING TO DRIFT BACK WESTWARD. SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND CONTINUES...ALTHOUGH CONVECTIVE SHOWERS ACROSS PORTIONS OF MOLOKAI AND OAHU HAVE DECREASED DRAMATICALLY SINCE 6 PM DUE TO THE CUTOFF OF DAYTIME HEATING. BANDS OF SHOWERS CONTINUE TO FORM SOUTH OF ALL THE ISLANDS AND THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD NORTHWARD OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. IT IS THIS PATTERN OF CONVERGENT SOUTHERLY FLOW...COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND FRONT-INDUCED INSTABILITY...THAT WILL MAKE CONDITIONS RIGHT FOR HEAVY SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT INTO NEXT WEEK. IN ADDITION TO THE OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER THE MAIN ISLANDS...A BAND OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW NORTHWEST OF KAUAI IS NOW ABOUT 290 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. AT CURRENT SPEED AND HEADING THIS BAND WILL REACH KAUAI SUNDAY JUST BEFORE SUNRISE. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS LOTS OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE UPWIND FROM THE ISLANDS...SO FUEL FOR HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL NOT BE LACKING. AFTERNOON SOUNDINGS SHOW THE ATMOSPHERE WAS UNSTABLE BUT RATHER DRY OVER KAUAI...BUT THIS IS WEST OF THE OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF CONDITIONS FURTHER EAST. THE LIFTED INDEX AT LIHUE WAS MINUS 5.2 WITH OVER 1600 J/KG OF AVAILABLE CONVECTIVE ENERGY. ALL WE NEED IS AN INFLUX OF DEEP MOISTURE TO KICK OFF THE EXPECTED SHOWERS AND PLENTY IS APPROACHING FROM WEST...SOUTH AND EAST. THE HILO SOUNDING SHOWED CONDITIONS THERE WERE UNSTABLE AND MOIST. HILO IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND IS MORE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE WEATHER SITUATION AS WAS SEEN WITH THE EARLIER HEAVY SHOWERS ACROSS THE EASTERN END OF THE ISLAND CHAIN. MODELS SHOW THE KONA LOW DRIFTING BACK TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST BEGINNING NEXT WEEK...BUT TRADE WIND WEATHER MAY NOT RETURN TO THE STATE UNTIL NEXT WEEKEND AS THE ASSOCIATED TROUGH KEEPS US IN WEAK SOUTHEAST WIND FLOW AS LATE AS NEXT FRIDAY. POWELL .HFO...WATCHES......FLOOD FOR ALL ISLANDS . WARNINGS.....NONE . ADVISORIES...NONE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, March 30, 2003
- Strong Wind in Georgia, March 30, 2003
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 30 to 31, 2003
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, March 30, 2003
- Winter Storm in New York, March 30 to 31, 2003
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 30, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, March 30, 2003
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, March 30 to 31, 2003
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, March 30, 2003
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in West Virginia, March 30, 2003
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, March 30, 2003
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, March 30, 2003
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 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: 5329319.