Flash Flood, Hawaii
- When
- February 28, 12:20 AM HST to 12:30 PM HST
- Where
- Hawaii County, Southwest Portion
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
- Coordinates
- 19.602, -155.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, February 28, 2004
Heavy showers and thunderstorms associated with a cold front generated flooding along Highway 11, Hawaii Belt Road, near mile posts 57 and 105. The roadway was closed near those locations for a time as the water subsided.
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 associated with a cold front generated flooding along Highway 11, Hawaii Belt Road, near mile posts 57 and 105. The roadway was closed near those locations for a time as the water subsided. 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 Feb 27, 8:40 PM HST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 27, 8:40 PM HST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 840 PM HST FRI FEB 27 2004 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT BETWEEN OAHU AND MOLOKAI SEPARATES THE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE EAST OVER MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND FROM MODERATE SHOWERS TO THE WEST. THE FRONT AND ALL THE BAD WEATHER WILL MOVE TO THE EAST...ENDING UP EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND SATURDAY NIGHT. UNSTABLE AIR WILL REMAIN OVER THE ISLANDS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...PROMOTING SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. TRADES ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN BY MIDWEEK. && .DISCUSSION... JUDGING BY THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND OVER OAHU AND MOLOKAI...THE COLD FRONT IS OVER THE KAIWI CHANNEL. IT IS MOVING TO THE EAST AND SHOULD REACH THE ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL SATURDAY MORNING. PROGS THEN SHOW THE FRONT EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND SATURDAY NIGHT. HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AND STRONG SOUTH WINDS WILL SHIFT EASTWARD AHEAD OF THE FRONT...TO BE REPLACED BY THE DRYER AND LESS WINDY WEATHER BEHIND THE FRONT. THE FRONT IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SURFACE LOW NOW ABOUT 225 MILES NORTH OF KAUAI. AN UPPER LOW LOCATED ABOVE THE SURFACE LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE SOUTH OVER KAUAI SATURDAY THEN LIFT OUT TO THE NORTHEAST SUNDAY. COLD TEMPERATURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW ALOFT WILL KEEP THE AIRMASS UNSTABLE...RESULTING IN THE FORMATION OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER LAND IN THE AFTERNOON. THE COLD TEMPERATURES WILL LIFT OUT TO THE NORTHEAST WITH THE LOW...REDUCING THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY. && .MARINE... SWELL DATA FROM BUOY ONE INDICATE THAT SURF ALONG THE NORTH SHORES OF KAUAI AND OAHU WILL BE HIGHER THAN THE 25 FEET FORECAST FOR TONIGHT. THE HIGH SURF WARNING WILL BE ADJUSTED UPPER AT 9 PM PROBABLY TO 20 TO 35 FEET FOR KAUAI AND OAHU. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING MOLOKAI TO THE BIG ISLAND FLASH FLOOD WATCH OAHU TO THE BIG ISLAND WINTER STORM WARNING FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THROUGH SATURDAY HIGH SURF WARNING NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF ALL ISLANDS BUT LANAI THROUGH SATURDAY CRAIG
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
- Avalanche in Alaska, February 28, 2004
- Avalanche in Idaho, February 28, 2004
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 28 to 29, 2004
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 28 to 29, 2004
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, February 28 to 29, 2004
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 28 to 29, 2004
- Winter Storm in Hawaii, February 28 to 29, 2004
- Winter Storm in Colorado, February 28 to 29, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 28 to 29, 2004
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, February 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: 5431074.