Debris Flow in Puerto Rico, May 14, 2004

Name: Debris Flow in Puerto Rico, May 14, 2004
Start: 2004-05-14T17:10
End: 2004-05-14T17:10
Location: Puerto Rico

May 14, 2004 · NWS SJU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 debris flow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 May 14, 3:03 PM AST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 3:03 PM AST, 2 hours 7 minutes before

PUERTO RICO AND U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
303 PM AST FRI MAY 14 2004

.DISCUSSION...
ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE OVER AND SOUTH OF THE
LOCAL ISLANDS THROUGH SUNDAY. GFS SHOWS A LOW LEVEL THETA-E RIDGE
NEARLY STATIONARY JUST SOUTH OF THE FA. GFS ALSO SUGGESTS
CONSIDERABLE MID LEVEL RISING AND UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE...PERHAPS
IN RESPONSE OF AN UPPER LEVEL JET. 14/00Z SOUNDING INDICATED
NEAR 100 KNOTS AT 200HPA...A HIGH VALUE OF PRECIPITABLE
WATERS...1.86 INCHES...AND HIGH POSITIVE BUOYANCY OF 2468 J/KG. A
DEEP HORIZONTAL UPPER LEVEL TROUGH JUST EAST OF BAHAMAS EXTEND EAST
INTO THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC...AND DOWN INTO THE MID LEVEL JUST NORTH
OF PUERTO RICO. THIS MID LEVEL TROUGH IS PRODUCING A GREAT DEAL OF
POSITIVE VORTICITY ACROSS THE LOCAL REGION.

DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTH OF ST THOMAS...WEST SOUTHWEST THROUGH
PUERTO RICO. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING WEST AT 10
TO 15 MPH...AND WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE NORTHERN HALF OF PUERTO
RICO AND THE ADJACENT ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS TODAY.

SOILS ACROSS MOST PARTS OF THE NORTHERN HALF OF PUERTO RICO CONTINUE
SATURATED DUE TO THE RECENT RAINFALL DURING THE PAST THREE DAYS. AN
ADDITIONAL TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN OVER THE NORTHERN BASINS WILL
PRODUCE WATER LEVEL OF RIVERS AND STREAMS TO RISES RAPIDLY.
THEREFORE...THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODS WILL CONTINUE TODAY AND
LIKELY WILL EXTEND THROUGH SUNDAY. THEREFORE...WILL ISSUE A FLASH
FLOOD WATCH FOR THE NORTHERN HALF OF PUERTO RICO AT LEAST THROUGH
EARLY EVENING.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SJU  86  73  85  72 /  70  50  70  80
STT  85  73  84  72 /  50  70  70  60

&&

.SJU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PR...FFA PRZ001-002-004-005-006-009 UNTIL 6 PM.
VI...NONE.

&&

ROCHE

Hazardous weather outlook, May 14, 6:10 AM AST, 11 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
610 AM AST FRI MAY 14 2004

PRZ001>013-AMZ710>750-151000-
610 AM AST FRI MAY 14 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PUERTO RICO.

.TODAY...THE LOCAL AIRMASS STILL MOIST AND UNSTABLE. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS EVEN IN SMALL QUANTITIES MAY BE SIGNIFICANT SINCE SOILS ARE
VERY SATURATED ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORTH HALF. RIVERS AND STREAMS
LEVELS ARE VERY HIGH AND THESE WILL FLOOD WITH LESSER AMOUNTS OF
RAIN OVER THEIR BASINS. LANDSLIDES ARE LIKELY OVER STEEP TERRAIN.

MARINE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ROUGH AND CHOPPY ALONG OFF SHORE
ATLANTIC WATERS. ELSEWHERE SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION
ELSEWHERE EXCEPT THE WEST WATERS.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

ALTHOUGH THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY PRECIPITATION AND CHANCES FOR FLASH
FLOODING WILL REMAIN HIGH THROUGH THE WEEK SATURDAY COULD BE THE
MOST SIGNIFICANT DAY AND THE PRECIPITATION MAY BE EXTREME MAINLY
OVER VIEQUES...CULEBRA AND THE EAST HALF OF PUERTO RICO. WEATHER
THIS DAY WILL BE SEVERE. LANDSLIDES ARE LIKELY OVER STEEP TERRAIN.

A MODERATE TO FRESH WIND FLOW AND CHOPPY SEAS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS
THE LOCAL WATERS THROUGH NEXT WEEK.

VIZ001-002-AMZ710>730-151000-
610 AM AST FRI MAY 14 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.

.TODAY...CONTINUOUS MODERATE TO HEAVY PASSING SHOWERS WILL LEAD TO
URBAN FLOODING AND POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODING.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION WILL REMAIN HIGH BUT FROM EARLY SATURDAY
TO EVENING THE PRECIPITATION MAY BE VERY HEAVY PRODUCING HIGHER
CHANCES FOR FLASH FLOODING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER
DETAILS OR UPDATES.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB
SITE FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS AT (ALL LOWERCASE
LETTERS): HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU.

RIVERA

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 14, 2:08 PM AST, 3 hours 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
208 PM AST FRI MAY 14 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1145 AM     FLASH FLOOD      GUAYNABO                18.39N 66.11W
05/14/2004                   GUAYNABO           PR   PUBLIC

            FLOODED ROADS IN FORT BUCHANAN AREA. CARS STALLED IN UP
            TO 2 FEET OF WATER

&&

PC

Event by event

1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.

Debris Flow, Central Interior

When: May 14, 5:10 PM AST
Where: Central Interior forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

A landslide was reported at Barrio Cedro Abajo in the municipality of Naranjito, along road 152, km. 18.2

What these are

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

Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Puerto Rico, May 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: 5398796.