Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 6, 2003

Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 6, 2003
Start: 2003-03-06T11:40
End: 2003-03-06T14:40
Location: Hawaii

March 6, 2003 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy showers produced stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding of roadways over southeast and south central 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

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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 produced stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding of roadways over southeast and south central 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 6, 10:00 AM HST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 6, 10:00 AM HST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST THU MAR 6 2003

SUMMARY...A COMBINATION OF LIGHT WINDS AND MOIST UNSTABLE AIR WILL
AFFECT THE ALOHA STATE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THE LIKELIHOOD FOR
SHOWERS WILL INCREASE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
HOURS...WITH HEAVY SHOWERS POSSIBLE AT TIMES THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
RIDGING EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL INCREASE STABILITY AND DECREASE THE
LIKELIHOOD FOR HEAVY SHOWERS. THE PROXIMITY OF THE RIDGE WILL KEEP
WINDS LIGHT THROUGH NEXT WEEK.

DISCUSSION...A DEEP TROUGH REMAINS WEST OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
THIS MORNING...KEEPING OUR WINDS LIGHT. AN ASSOCIATED LINE OF HEAVY
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FROM 40 MILES NORTH OF KAUAI TO 70
MILES WEST OF NIIHAU. MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 20 MILES PER HOUR...THE
SOUTHERN END OF THIS LINE MAY PASS OVER KAUAI LATER THIS MORNING.
THE OVERNIGHT LIHUE SOUNDING SHOWS CONDITIONS HAVE DESTABILIZED
RAPIDLY THERE...WITH A K-INDEX OF 27 AND A RELATIVELY WEAK CAP AT
6700 FEET. THIS SOUNDING MODIFIED FOR FORECAST HIGH TEMPERATURE AND
DEWPOINT HAS NO CAP AT ALL. IN CONTRAST...THE OVERNIGHT HILO
SOUNDING IS QUITE STABLE...WITH A K-INDEX OF MINUS 13...A STRONG CAP
AT 9500 FEET...AND SUBSTANTIAL DRYING ABOVE 700 MB.

THE POSITION OF THE LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WEST
THROUGH NORTH OF KAUAI CORRESPONDS WELL WITH THE SHORT WAVE 500 MB
TROUGH POSITION. THIS UPPER TROUGH IS FORECAST TO PASS EAST OF THE
STATE WITHIN THE NEXT 6 TO 12 HOURS...SO ANY ASSOCIATED HEAVY
SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY WILL BE BRIEF. AFTER THIS
UPPER TROUGH PASSES...NO OTHER UPPER TROUGH IS FORECAST TO DIG THIS
FAR SOUTH THROUGH NEXT WEEK. THE SURFACE TROUGH IS FORECAST TO
GRADUALLY WEAKEN IN PLACE TO THE WEST OF THE ISLANDS AS THE PARENT
LOW LIFTS OUT TO THE NORTHEAST. INSTABILITY MAY LINGER OVER THE
STATE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WESTERN ISLANDS...FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
BY EARLY NEXT WEEK...THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE BECOMES THE DOMINANT
WEATHER FEATURE FOR THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. HOWEVER...THE RIDGELINE
WILL BE VERY CLOSE TO THE ISLANDS...FLATTENING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT
AND KEEPING OUR WINDS LIGHT.

THE WESTERN EDGE OF A THICK BAND OF HIGH CLOUDS HAS MOVED EAST OF
THE BIG ISLAND THIS MORNING...REVEALING CLEAR TO MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES
OVER THAT ISLAND. EXPECT CLOUD COVER TO INCREASE THERE TOWARDS THE
AFTERNOON AS DAYTIME HEATING BUILDS TO A PEAK...THEN DECREASE
OVERNIGHT AS COOLING SETS IN. THE SMALLER ISLANDS...EXCEPT
KAUAI...ARE ALSO MOSTLY CLEAR AND SHOULD SEE THE SAME PATTERN OF
CLOUD COVER. WITH LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED THROUGH THE SEVEN DAY
FORECAST PERIOD...EXPECT LITTLE CHANGE IN THIS PATTERN THROUGH NEXT
WEEK.

POWELL

.HFO...WATCHES......NONE
.      WARNINGS.....NONE
.      ADVISORIES...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, Kauai

When: March 6, 11:40 AM HST to 2:40 PM HST
Where: Kauai County, Lihue
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 22.011, -159.705 (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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5329310.