Flash Flood in Hawaii, February 2, 2005

Name: Flash Flood in Hawaii, February 2, 2005
Start: 2005-02-02T02:10
End: 2005-02-02T17:50
Location: Hawaii

February 2, 2005 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 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, showers, and isolated thunderstorms produced flash flooding on the Garden Isle of Kauai. Police officers closed the Hanalei Bridge early in the morning as flood waters had made it impassable. Schools in Hanalei were closed as a result. Landslides occurred elsewhere in northern and eastern parts of Kauai, closing other roads for a time as the rain persisted. A sewage spill in Lihue forced health officials to close a beach near where the spill occurred. No serious injuries were reported. Damage estimates were not available.

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 1, 8:30 PM HST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 1, 8:30 PM HST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST TUE FEB 1 2005

.SYNOPSIS...
THE AIRMASS REMAINS MOIST AND UNSTABLE AHEAD OF A SLOW MOVING COLD
FRONT IN THE KAUAI CHANNEL. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE PASSING NEAR
THE ISLANDS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY IS EXPECTED TO ENHANCE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS...AND SO THE RISK FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL CONTINUES
THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A TROUGH BOTH AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT WILL
LINGER NEAR THE ISLANDS THROUGH THE LATTER HALF OF THIS
WEEK...KEEPING THE WEATHER A BIT UNSETTLED. TRADE WINDS WILL FINALLY
RETURN TO THE ISLANDS THIS WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE PASSES TO OUR
NORTH.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THOUGH NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF RAIN TODAY...THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO
PICK UP AROUND THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AS AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE
BEGINS TO MAKE ITS PRESENCE KNOWN. ISOLATED HEAVY SHOWERS AND/OR
THUNDERSTORMS FORMED OVER AND AROUND THE ISLANDS RIGHT AROUND SUNSET
TODAY...AND CONTINUE TO POP UP ALMOST AT RANDOM THIS EVENING.
BELIEVE THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING...WITH SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AS THE
SHORTWAVE WE ARE WATCHING GETS CLOSER AND EVENTUALLY MOVES OVER THE
ISLANDS. THE SHORTWAVE IS WELL DEFINED IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND
APPEARS WELL HANDLED BY THE MODELS. THE AXIS OF THE SHORTWAVE IS
CURRENT LOCATED ROUGHLY ALONG A LINE BETWEEN 25N166W AND
14N169W...NEARLY 400 MILES WEST OF KAUAI AT ITS CLOSEST POINT.
ENHANCED SHOWERS ARE NOTED DIRECTLY BELOW AND JUST AHEAD OF THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF THE SHORTWAVE AXIS...AT THE MOMENT WELL TO THE
SOUTHWEST OF THE STATE. HOWEVER...THE SHORTWAVE IS EXPECTED TO COZY
UP TO KAUAI AND DEEPEN THE EXISTING TROUGH OVER THE STATE. WHEN
THIS DEEPENING OCCURS TOMORROW...A GOOD AREA OF DIFLUENCE WILL SET
UP OVER EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE...OPENING THE DOORS FOR INCREASED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. IF THE CURRENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
SHORTWAVE AXIS AND THE ENHANCED SHOWERS HOLDS THROUGH TOMORROW...THE
HEAVIEST SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY REMAIN OVER WATER SOUTHWEST
OF THE STATE. AGREE WITH THE CURRENT FORECAST PHILOSOPHY KEEPING
SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND
WEDNESDAY WILL LET THE CURRENT PACKAGE STAND FOR NOW.

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...
THE TROUGH IS IN NO HURRY TO LEAVE THE ALOHA STATE. THE MODELS
LINGER THIS FEATURE OVER THE ISLANDS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK...AND
MOST MODELS DEVELOP AN UPPER LEVEL LOW TO THE NORTH OR NORTHEAST OF
THE ISLANDS. DEEPER MOISTURE WILL LINGER NEAR THE BIG ISLAND...BUT A
RELATIVELY DRIER AIRMASS IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD AT LEAST THE
WESTERN MAIN ISLANDS FOR WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND AS TRADES TRY TO BUILD
IN. BEST RAIN CHANCES WILL REMAIN NEAR THE BIG ISLAND...BUT EVEN THE
SMALLER ISLANDS WILL SEE PASSING SHOWERS...SOME COULD BE BRIEFLY
HEAVY...WITH THE UPPER TROUGH AND ITS SURFACE REFLECTION NEARBY.

THE UPPER TROUGH IS FINALLY EXPECTED TO SLIDE FARTHER EAST BY THE
WEEKEND...WITH MODEL CONSENSUS GIVING A HIGH OF ABOUT 1024 MB OR SO
PASSING NORTH OF THE ISLANDS NEAR 33N. THIS SHOULD RETURN TRADE
WINDS AND MUCH MORE SETTLED WEATHER FOR THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT
WEEK...ASIDE FROM MAINLY WINDWARD AND MAUKA SHOWERS.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR OAHU MOLOKAI LANAI MAUI KAHOOLAWE AND THE BIG
ISLAND THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

&&

TANABE

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, Kauai

When: February 2, 2:10 AM HST to 5:50 PM HST
Where: Kauai County, Hanalei
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 22.200, -159.500

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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, February 2005

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: 5441519.