Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, December 7, 2004
Start: 2004-12-07T14:23
End: 2004-12-07T17:29
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

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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 caused ponding of roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding in windward sections of the Big Island of Hawaii; in the Hamakua, North and South Hilo, and Puna districts. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.

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 7, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 23 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1000 AM HST TUE DEC 7 2004

.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LOW IS APPROACHING THE ISLANDS FROM THE EAST.
THIS WILL BRING THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN TO THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI
COUNTY THROUGH TOMORROW...WITH SOME ENHANCED SHOWERS POSSIBLE ON
OAHU AS WELL. THE UPPER LOW WILL WEAKEN AND MOVE AWAY FROM THE
ISLANDS LATE WEDNESDAY...AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE ISLANDS FROM
THE NORTH. THE COLD FRONT AND ITS BRISK NORTH WINDS SHOULD END MOST
RAINFALL AS IT PASSES THROUGH THE ISLANDS BY THURSDAY NIGHT. BREEZY
TRADE WINDS WILL PREVAIL FROM FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH
RELATIVELY DRY WEATHER.

&&

.DISCUSSION...A CLOSED UPPER LOW IS CENTERED JUST EAST OF THE BIG
ISLAND...AND IS MOVING STEADILY WEST. THE LOW IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN
SLOWLY AS ITS FIRST MOVES WEST OVER THE BIG ISLAND TODAY...THEN
NORTHWEST TO MAUI COUNTY. ON WEDNESDAY THE LOW IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN
TO AN OPEN TROUGH...AND THEN GET KICKED OFF TO THE NORTHEAST IN
RESPONSE TO A DEEP TROUGH APPROACHING THE ISLANDS FROM THE
NORTHWEST. THE UPPER LOW IS NOT EXPECTED TO MOVE WEST OF MAUI
COUNTY. ALTHOUGH THE APPROACHING MID LATITUDE TROUGH WILL ACT TO
LIFT OUT THE UPPER LOW...AND USHER A COLD FRONT SOUTHWARD THROUGH
THE ISLAND CHAIN...IT IS NOT EXPECTED TO PROVIDE MUCH IN THE WAY OF
DYNAMICS TO SUPPORT HEAVY SHOWERS WITH THE FRONT.

THE UPPER LEVEL LOW NOW CLOSING IN ON THE BIG ISLAND FROM THE EAST
WILL BE ENHANCING INCOMING TRADE SHOWERS TO THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI
TODAY...WITH THE SHOWER THREAT EXTENDING AS FAR WEST AS OAHU
TONIGHT AND EARLY TOMORROW. TOMORROW THE UPPER LOW IN CONJUNCTION
WITH THE ANTICIPATED LIGHTER WINDS WILL PROMPT MORE AFTERNOON
CENTERED CONVECTIVE RAINFALL...AGAIN LARGELY ON THE BIG ISLAND AND
MAUI. A COLD FRONT ON THURSDAY SHOULD BRING IN COOL GUSTY NORTH
WINDS WITH A FEW UNENHANCED SHOWERS...DUE TO WEAK UPPER LEVEL
SUPPORT. DEWPOINTS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP...REACHING THEIR MINIMA IN
TO THE UPPER 50S THURSDAY NIGHT AND THEN GRADUALLY REBOUND INTO NEXT
WEEKEND. AS THE FRONT PASSES...GUSTY NORTH AND NORTHEAST WINDS MAY
BRIEFLY PROMPT WIND ADVISORIES FOR THE SOUTH AND WEST SIDES OF THE
SMALLER ISLANDS.

CLEARING BEHIND THE FRONT SHOULD BE QUICK...WITH DRY COOL NORTHEAST
TRADE WINDS PREVAILING FRIDAY AND WARMING AND MOISTENING SLIGHTLY
OVER THE WEEKEND AS THE WINDS BECOME MORE EASTERLY AND WEAKEN
SLIGHTLY.

&&

.MARINE...
THE FIRST OF SEVERAL SWELLS IS ON THE RISE ALONG NORTH SHORES
TODAY...AND BASED ON OBSERVATIONS FROM BUOY 51001...A HIGH SURF
ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NORTH FACING SHORES OF THE ISLANDS
FROM KAUAI TO MAUI. SURF IS NOT EXPECTED TO REACH ADVISORY LEVELS
ALONG WEST FACING SHORES WITH THIS SWELL. LARGER SWELLS ARE EXPECTED
OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT WEEK...SEE HFOSRFHFO FOR ADDITIONAL
INFO. THE INCREASING WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL LIKELY NECESSITATE
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF ADVISORY...NORTH FACING SHORES OF KAUAI OAHU MOLOKAI MAUI

BIRCHARD

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 7, 2:23 PM HST to 5:29 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Honokaa
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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, December 2004

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: 5432221.