Flash Flood, Kauai
- When
- January 1, 5:35 AM HST to 2:15 PM HST
- Where
- Kauai County, Waimea
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 21.950, -159.683
Flash Flood in Hawaii, January 1, 2005
A cold front brought heavy showers and rain to southern and eastern portions of Kauai. Streams overflowed in the Wailua and Koloa areas, and flooding was a problem in downtown Waimea.
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
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.
A cold front brought heavy showers and rain to southern and eastern portions of Kauai. Streams overflowed in the Wailua and Koloa areas, and flooding was a problem in downtown Waimea. There were numerous road closures, residential flooding, landslides, and backed-up cesspools across the Garden Isle. Sinkholes opened up in and around Nawiliwili, near Lihue. County officials asked for voluntary evacuations of some homes in Waimea, Wailua, and Hanapepe. However, 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 Dec 31, 4:00 PM HST, 13 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 4:00 PM HST, 13 hours 35 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 PM HST FRI DEC 31 2004 .SYNOPSIS... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ABOUT 725 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF KAUAI IS NEARLY STATIONARY. RAIN ALONG A FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW WILL SPREAD FROM KAUAI TO OAHU TONIGHT...AND THE REMAINING ISLANDS SATURDAY. REMNANTS OF THIS FRONT WILL LINGER OVER MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND THROUGH SUNDAY. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN AS THE LOW EXITS TO OUR NORTH WILL BRING COOL NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS IN THE EARLY PART OF NEXT...WITH LIGHT TRADES FILLING IN THEREAFTER. && .DISCUSSION... ALTHOUGH LESS INTENSE THAN WHAT FELL LAST NIGHT...PERIODS OF RAINFALL CONTINUED TO AFFECT THE GARDEN ISLE TODAY...WITH GAGES ISLAND WIDE REPORTING TOTALS IN THE ONE HALF TO ONE INCH RANGE OVER THE 6 HOUR PERIOD ENDING AT 2 PM. THESE...IN ADDITION TO THE OVERNIGHT NUMBERS...PUSHED 24 HOUR TOTALS THROUGH 2 PM UP TO 3 TO 5 INCHES FOR MOST GAGES ON KAUAI...WITH HANALEI AND WAIALEALE REPORTING UPWARDS OF 6 INCHES. OAHU AND MOLOKAI ALSO SAW SOME SHOWERS...THOUGH AMOUNTS WERE CONSIDERABLY LESS CONSIDERING THE BREVITY OF THE EVENTS. THE OVERALL FORECAST PHILOSOPHY REMAINS UNCHANGED...BUT OF COURSE BEING NEW YEARS EVE...EVERYTHING HINGES ON TIMING...OH THE TIMING. PERIODS OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT KAUAI OVERNIGHT. THOUGH SKIES WILL REMAIN CLOUDY OVER MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND OVERNIGHT...ANY SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL SHOULD HOLD OFF UNTIL EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. OAHU PRESENTS THE MOST CHALLENGING FORECAST CONCERNING THE TIMING. RATHER THAN A SINGLE AND STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TO OUR WEST AS WAS THE CASE OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DAY...A COMPLEX LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NOW RESIDES WEST OF THE STATE. A WEAK SURFACE LOW SITS NEARLY STATIONARY ALL BY ITSELF NEAR 19N 170.5W. ANOTHER LOW IS NEAR 31.5N 166.5W. A WEAK FRONT CONNECTS THIS SECOND LOW TO A THIRD LOW NEAR 21N 164W. FROM THIS THIRD LOW THE FRONT EXTENDS SOUTH THROUGH 20N 163W TO 16N 163W TO 10N 167W. THE FRONT HAS BEEN NEARLY STATIONARY TODAY. SINGLE OR COMPLEX LOW ASIDE...MODELS REMAIN PERSISTENT SHIFTING THE ASSOCIATED RAINFALL NEAR OAHU THIS EVENING. WHILE CLOUD TOPS AROUND THE ISLAND HAVE WARMED OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS AND THE SHOWERS HAVE LIGHTENED UP A BIT...BELIEVE CLOUD TOP COOLING WILL HELP TO GET THINGS MOVING TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH FLASH FLOOD INTENSITY RAINFALL IS NOT BEING OBSERVED AT THE MOMENT OVER KAUAI...BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL OR THUNDERSTORMS IN ADDITION TO THE STEADY RAINFALL MIGHT BE ALL IT TAKES TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OF SOME SORT IS EXPECTED TO LINGER FAR NORTH OF THE ISLANDS AND AS WELL AS A HIGH FURTHER NORTHWEST. THIS ARRANGEMENT WILL KEEP LIGHT TO MODERATE AND SOMEWHAT COOL NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS THROUGH THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK. FORECAST CHARTS INDICATE THE AIR MASS WILL BECOME MORE STABLE THUS WE SHOULD SEE MUCH LESS SHOWERS AND CLOUDS THEN. A RIDGE IS NOW EXPECTED TO REBUILD NORTH OF THE ISLANDS BY THE LATER PART OF NEXT WEEK...WITH LIGHT TRADE WINDS RETURNING THEN. && .MARINE... THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT NORTHWEST SWELL IS STILL EXPECTED TO REACH THE ISLANDS SUNDAY AND POSSIBLY REACHING WARNING SURF HEIGHTS BY MONDAY. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH NIIHAU KAUAI AND OAHU THROUGH NEW YEARS DAY. && TANABE
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
- High Surf in Guam, January 1, 2005
- Flooding in Ohio, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 20, 2005
- Flooding in Ohio, January 1 to 20, 2005
- Flooding in Ohio, January 1 to 16, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 18, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 14, 2005
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Ice Storm in Iowa, January 1, 2005
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 1, 2005
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 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: 5436303.