Flash Flood, Honolulu
- When
- January 25, 8:15 PM HST to 11:25 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, 2 mi N of Kahaluu
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Hawaii, January 25, 2004
Heavy rain and thunderstorms produced flash flooding conditions along Kamehameha Highway near the Waikane Bridge. The highway had to be closed for a time to allow the flooding waters to subside.
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 thunderstorms produced flash flooding conditions along Kamehameha Highway near the Waikane Bridge. The highway had to be closed for a time to allow the flooding waters to subside. 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 Jan 25, 5:00 PM HST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 5:00 PM HST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION...DELAYED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU 500 PM HST SUN JAN 25 2004 .SYNOPSIS... HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD WESTWARD OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE WEST WILL REACH KAUAI TONIGHT...ADDING MORE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MIX. TRADE WIND WEATHER WILL RETURN NO EARLIER THAN WEDNESDAY. && .DISCUSSION... AN UPPER TROUGH WEST OF THE MAIN ISLANDS...MOISTURE MOVING WESTWARD IN RESURGENT TRADES...AND AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WEST OF KAUAI ARE COMBINING TO PRODUCE A PROLIFIC RAINMAKING AND SEVERE WEATHER EVENT THIS AFTERNOON. CONDITIONS ARE VERY UNSTABLE...THANKS TO THE UPPER TROUGH...WITH MUCH COLDER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES ALOFT. SATELLITE LOOPS CORROBORATE THE INSTABILITY NOTED IN THE SOUNDING DATA...WITH SHOWERY LOW CLOUDS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SLOWLY WORKING THEIR WAY WESTWARD ACROSS LOCAL WATERS WITHIN SLUGGISH LOW LEVEL FLOW AND ALONG A PREVIOUS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM EARLIER THUNDERSTORMS NORTHEAST OF THE STATE. A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST HAS A SECOND AREA OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL AFFECT THE ISLANDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. ANOTHER SURFACE FEATURE IS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WHICH EXTENDS WEST ALONG ABOUT 28N...INDUCING A STEEP ENOUGH PRESSURE GRADIENT TO PRODUCE THE WEAK TRADES WHICH ARE BRINGING MOISTURE BACK INTO OUR WEATHER PICTURE. IT IS THIS COMBINATION OF INSTABILITY AND INCREASING MOISTURE THAT WILL CONTINUE TO TRIGGER HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MAIN ISLANDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL ISLANDS OVERNIGHT. NUMEROUS FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT...FOR THE BIG ISLAND...MAUI AND EAST MOLOKAI AT THIS HOUR. BY WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND AND BEGIN TO FILL. THE SURFACE RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN AT THE SAME TIME...INDUCING DRIER MODERATE TRADE WIND FLOW. && .SURF... SURF HEIGHTS HAVE FALLEN BELOW ADVISORY HEIGHTS THIS AFTERNOON...SO THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY WAS CANCELLED AT 4 PM HST. && .HNL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH......ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HIGH SURF ADVISORY.....CANCELLED AT 4 PM HST && POWELL
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
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 25 to 26, 2004
- Tornado in Louisiana, January 25, 2004
- Winter Storm in Virginia, January 25 to 26, 2004
- Winter Storm in Maryland, January 25 to 26, 2004
- Cold in New Jersey, January 25, 2004
- Cold in Pennsylvania, January 25, 2004
- Cold in Illinois, January 25, 2004
- Ice Storm in Georgia, January 25 to 27, 2004
- Winter Storm in Ohio, January 25 to 26, 2004
- Ice Storm in South Carolina, January 25, 2004
- Ice Storm in North Carolina, January 25, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Utah, January 25, 2004
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 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: 5432471.