Flash Flood, Northwest
- When
- December 16, 8:20 PM AST to 10:25 PM AST
- Where
- Northwest County, Hatillo
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
Flooded homes were reported at Barrio Corcovado, sector El Fuego.
Flash Flooding and Debris Flow in Puerto Rico, December 16, 2004
2 flash flood, 1 debris flow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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 San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 4:50 PM AST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 4:50 PM AST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
PUERTO RICO AND U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 450 PM AST THU DEC 16 2004 .DISCUSSION... LOW LEVEL VORT CENTER AND ASSOCIATED TROUGHING LINGERING ACROSS EASTERN HISPANIOLA PAST 24-36 HOURS HAS BEGUN TO MERGE WITH ATLANTIC COLD FRONT TODAY...WITH FRONT LIKELY NOT TO MAKE ANY MORE SOUTHEAST PROGRESS. LLVL VORT PRODUCED AN E TO ESE FLOW ACROSS P.R. THIS MORNING THAT NEGATED THE TYPICAL SEABREEZE ACROSS THE WEST HALF OF THE ISLAND THAT ONE WOULD EXPECT UNDER CLEAR MORNING SKIES AND MILD WIND FLOW. THIS HELPED TO RETARD DIURNAL CONVECTION UNTIL AFTER 2 PM...BUT HAS SINCE BEEN GOING STRONG ACROSS P.R. WITH SIGNIFICANT RAIN TOTALS IN ISOLATED DEEP CONVECTIVE CELLS. ADDITIONAL LLVL CONVERGENCE IS OCCURRING ACROSS THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND ADJACENT WATERS AND WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AS A LLVL TROUGH JUST WEST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES MOVES WSW ACROSS THE AREA...BRINGING WITH IT SCATTERED TO LOCALLY NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. AFTERNOON CONVECTION ACROSS P.R. WILL LINGER PAST SUNSET DUE TO ITS LATE ONSET...AND THEN BE REPLACED OVERNIGHT BY WEATHER ASSOCIATED WITH APPROACHING LLVL TROUGH ADVECTING IN FROM THE EAST. A GRADUAL DECREASING TREND IN LOW TO MID LEVEL MOISTURE AND WEATHER IS THEN EXPECTED FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THE WEEKEND. LARGE NW SWELLS GENERATED BEHIND THE ATLANTIC COLD FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN TO INVADE THE REGIONAL WATERS OVERNIGHT...AND SHOULD BUILD QUICKLY DURING THE MORNING HOURS TO 6 TO 7 FEET. THIS WILL NECESSITATE SCA AND HIGH SURF ADVISORIES FOR FRIDAY MORNING. THIS SWELL EVENT WILL LINGER THROUGH THE WEEKEND...BUT LIKELY FALL BELOW THESE ADVISORY CRITERIA SATURDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SJU 74 84 74 84 / 50 50 50 40 STT 75 85 75 85 / 50 30 40 40 && .SJU WATCHES/ADVISORIES... PR...NONE. VI...NONE. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 16, 6:00 AM AST, 14 hours 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 600 AM AST THU DEC 16 2004 PRZ001>013-AMZ710>750-171100-- 600 AM AST THU DEC 16 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PUERTO RICO. .TODAY AND TONIGHT... SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS PARTS OF THE LOCAL ISLANDS TODAY. RAINFALL WILL BE MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES AND RESULT IN PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND QUICK RISES IN SMALL STREAMS IN A FEW LOCATIONS...HOWEVER NO FLOODING OR OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A BROAD...BUT WEAK...LOW LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN AND INFLUENCE THE WEATHER ACROSS THE LOCAL REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING OCCASIONAL PATCHES OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND SHOWER ACTIVITY TO LOCAL ISLANDS FROM TIME TO TIME. BRIEF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THAT TIME MAY CAUSE SOME MINOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS IN A FEW LOCATIONS. NO FLOODING OR OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED THEREAFTER. VIZ001-002-AMZ710>730-171100-- 600 AM AST THU DEC 16 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. .TODAY AND TONIGHT... SOME ISOLATED PASSING SHOWERS WILL AFFECT THE LOCAL ISLANDS TODAY. MODERATE TO HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY OCCUR FROM TIME TO TIME BUT WILL BE OF SHORT DURATION. THIS MAY CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. HOWEVER NO FLOODING OR OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A BROAD...BUT WEAK...LOW LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN AND AFFECT THE LOCAL REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING OCCASIONAL PATCHES OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND SHOWER ACTIVITY TO LOCAL ISLANDS FROM TIME TO TIME. BRIEF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THAT TIME MAY CAUSE SOME MINOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND IN POOR DRAINAGE AREA. NO FLOODING OR OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED THEREAFTER.
Event by event
2 flash flood, 1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
Debris Flow, North Central
- When
- December 16, 8:20 PM AST
- Where
- North Central forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
Landslide was reported at Barrio Bajuras in the Vega Alta municipality, along road 647, km.11.0
Flash Flood, Northwest
- When
- December 16, 8:25 PM AST to 10:25 PM AST
- Where
- Northwest County, Camuy
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
Flooded homes were reported at Estancias de Membrillo.
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.
- Debris Flow
- A fast-moving slurry of mud, rock and debris, usually on a slope soaked by heavy rain or stripped by a fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Surf in Hawaii, December 16 to 18, 2004
- High Wind in Alaska, December 16, 2004
- High Wind in California, December 16, 2004
- High Wind in California, December 16, 2004
- Wildfire in California, December 16, 2004
- Dense Fog in California, December 16 to 26, 2004
- Flash Flood in Puerto Rico, December 16, 2004
- High Wind in California, December 16, 2004
- High Wind in Montana, December 16, 2004
- Dense Fog in California, December 16, 2004
More
Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Puerto Rico, 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: 5431377, 5431378, 5431376.