Heavy Rain, Kauai
- When
- March 30, 10:10 PM HST to March 31, 1:10 AM HST
- Where
- Kauai County, 6 mi E of Hanapepe
- 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 to 31, 2003
Heavy rain and showers produced stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding of roadways in southern and western parts of Kauai. There were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.
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 rain and showers produced stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding of roadways in southern and western parts of Kauai. There were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.
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 30, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 830 PM HST SUN MAR 30 2003 SUMMARY...A KONA LOW REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY ABOUT 630 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI...KEEPING THE BULK OF WET WEATHER ACROSS THE WESTERN END OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE OVER KAUAI THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...AND OVER LEEWARD SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND EACH AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SOUTHERLY WINDS SHOULD TURN MORE EASTERLY BY MIDWEEK...WITH THE ISLANDS GRADUALLY DRYING OUT BY NEXT WEEKEND. DISCUSSION...THE KONA LOW AND ASSOCIATED TROUGH NORTHWEST THROUGH WEST OF KAUAI CONTINUE TO INDUCE SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE STATE THIS EVENING. SATELLITE IMAGERY AND RADAR SHOW SHOWERS EMBEDDED WITHIN THIS FLOW...MAINLY WEST OF MOLOKAI. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE ISLANDS REMAINS UNSTABLE...WITH A K-INDEX OF 35 DERIVED FROM THE AFTERNOON LIHUE SOUNDING. THE LARGE SUPPLY OF MOISTURE AND CONTINUED UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WILL KEEP SHOWERY WEATHER AROUND THROUGH MIDWEEK NEXT WEEK. THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE FOR KAUAI THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...WITH HEAVY SHOWERS POSSIBLE THERE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE REMAINING SMALLER ISLANDS WILL SEE BOUTS OF SCATTERED SHOWERS...SOME HEAVY...FROM NOW THROUGH WEDNESDAY. AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR OVER LEEWARD PORTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND THROUGH WEDNESDAY. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY SHOWERS EMBEDDED WITHIN THE SOUTHERLY FLOW AFFECTING THE ISLANDS...A BAND OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LIES JUST WEST OF KAUAI. ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING SOUTH FROM THE KONA LOW NORTHWEST OF KAUAI...THIS BAND HAS NOT MOVED MUCH EASTWARD OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS...ALTHOUGH INDIVIDUAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD WITHIN THE BAND. LEAD ELEMENTS OF THIS BAND ARE JUST REACHING THE ISLAND OF NIIHAU. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A SHORT WAVE TROUGH ROTATING AROUND THE LOW PASSING TO THE NORTHEAST OF KAUAI. THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS APPEARS TO BE DISSIPATING IN RESPONSE TO THIS MOVEMENT. IT IS POSSIBLE THE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS JUST WEST OF KAUAI MAY NOT REACH THAT ISLAND. HOWEVER...THE STRONG AND MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW WASHING OVER KAUAI WILL MAINTAIN THE THREAT OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INDEPENDENT OF WHATEVER THREAT THE BAND WEST OF KAUAI POSES. MODELS LIFT THE KONA LOW NORTHWARD DURING THE COMING WEEK...GRADUALLY ALLOWING A RETURN OF EASTERLY TRADE WINDS AND DRIER WEATHER ALL ACROSS THE STATE. BUT AS IS USUAL WITH KONA SYSTEMS...THE LOW WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE AS IT IS SOUTH OF THE MAIN STREAM OF MID-LATITUDE WEATHER. POWELL .HFO...WATCHES......FLOOD FOR KAUAI . 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: 5329321.