Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 14, 2004

Name: Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 14, 2004
Start: 2004-03-14T09:40
End: 2004-03-14T16:45
Location: Hawaii

March 14, 2004 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $550,000
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 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 14, 4:00 AM HST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 4:00 AM HST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
400 AM HST SUN MAR 14 2004

.SYNOPSIS...
CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH A SHEARLINE NEAR THE BIG ISLAND
WILL CONTINUE TO FAVOR THE EASTERN HALF OF THE MAIN ISLAND CHAIN
THROUGH MUCH OF THE COMING WORK WEEK. STRONG TRADE WINDS WILL
DECREASE SLIGHTLY THROUGH THE WEEK...REMAINING STRONGEST OVER THE
WESTERN HALF OF THE MAIN ISLAND CHAIN. TRADES WILL INCREASE AGAIN
LATE NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THERE IS LITTLE CHANGE IN FORECAST PHILOSOPHY FROM LAST EVENING.
SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS PERSIST ALONG A WEAKENING
SHEARLINE EXTENDING NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST ACROSS EAST MAUI AND THE
BIG ISLAND THIS MORNING. RADAR SHOWS THAT THERE ARE STILL PATCHES OF
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL...WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...OVER
PORTIONS OF THE WINDWARD SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND AND THE ISLAND OF
MAUI. KAUAI...OAHU AND MOLOKAI LIE WEST OF THE MAIN SHEARLINE CLOUD
BAND BUT ARE AFFECTED BY WARM-TOPPED BROKEN TO OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS.
THESE CLOUDS ARE LESS CONVECTIVE THAN THOSE WITHIN THE CLOUD BAND.
SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW THAT NORTHEAST TRADES IN THE 20 TO 30 MPH RANGE
PERSIST BEHIND THE SHEARLINE...WITH THE STRONGEST OF THESE WINDS
NOTED NEAR KAUAI AND OAHU.

A LOW FAR NORTH NORTHEAST OF HAWAII ALONG THE SHEARLINE WILL DRIFT
TOWARDS THE ISLANDS THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEKEND...THEN RETREAT
NORTHEASTWARD AGAIN BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. HOWEVER...BECAUSE
THIS LOW WILL MOVE PARALLEL TO THE LENGTH OF THE SHEARLINE OVER THE
BIG ISLAND INSTEAD OF DUE EASTWARD...THE SHEARLINE ITSELF WILL
LIKELY NOT MOVE MUCH THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THIS MEANS
THAT THE EASTERN END OF THE MAIN ISLAND CHAIN WILL SEE THE BULK OF
CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE...A FEATURE THAT
LATEST MODELS SHOW WILL WASH OUT ONLY VERY SLOWLY. THE LOW WILL
FINALLY LIFT NORTHEASTWARD LATE NEXT WEEK...ALLOWING A 1032 MB HIGH
TO MOVE IN TO OUR NORTH AND INDUCE A DRIER TRADE WIND PATTERN.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS

POWELL

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Hawaii

When: March 14, 9:40 AM HST to 4:45 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Kamuela
Property damage: $550,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 19.602, -155.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain and showers closed and damaged several roads in northern parts of the Big Island of Hawaii. The rain also forced Waikoloa Stream over its banks, and the flood waters in turn damaged water mains that supplied Kamuela with drinking water. Damages to the roadways alone were more than half a million dollars. There were no reports of serious injuries, however.

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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, March 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: 5431277.