Flooding in Puerto Rico, January 19 to 20, 2005

Name: Flooding in Puerto Rico, January 19 to 20, 2005
Start: 2005-01-19T00:00
End: 2005-01-20T12:00
Location: Puerto Rico

January 19 to 20, 2005 · NWS SJU · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

An upper trough began to affect Puerto Rico overnight on Jan. 18-19 combined with a weak low level boundary during the overnight of Jan.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS SJU wrote it up.

An upper trough began to affect Puerto Rico overnight on Jan. 18-19 combined with a weak low level boundary during the overnight of Jan. 19-20 to produce moderate heavy rains especially in the saturated areas of northeast and north central Puerto Rico. River Cibuco at Vega Baja and River De La Plata at Toa Alta both exceeded Action Stage, with mean basin rainfall of 0.75 to 1.25 inches overnight. 24-hour gage rainfall reached 2.81" at Lago La Plata (NARP4); 2.32" at Rio Icacos near Naguabo (NGIP4); 2.26" at Rio Camuy near Bayaney (CMAP4) and 1.99" at Represa De Comerio (CMRP4). During the overnight of 19-20 January, flash Flood Warnings for widespread portions of the northeast and north central island were issued as rain of 1 to 3 inches fell over several hours. A Flash Flood Watch was posted for most of Puerto Rico, excluding only the southwest coast and far west. The Rio Cibuco at Vega Baja (VGBP4), Rio Grande De Manati near Manati (MANP4) and Rio De La Plata at Toa Alta (TOAP4) all exceeded flood stage. The Rio Grande De Manati reached Moderate Flood Stage, approaching the levels seen during November 2004. There were several reports of roads closed by flooding and landslides and a number of refugees in Manati and Naranjito. For 19 January San Juan International Airport ASOS (JSJ) set a new daily rainfall record of 0.62 inches, eclipsing the 1981 record of 0.38 inches. 24-hour rainfall ending 20 January at 1200 UTC included a remarkable 6.66" at Rio Tanama near Charco Hondo (ARDP4), 4.50" at Rio Icacos near Naguabo (NGIP4), 4.45" at Arecibo 9 SW (ARBP4); 4.33" at Lago La Plata (NARP4) and 4.06" at Rio Manati near Manati (MANP4).

Event by event

3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northeast

When: January 19, 12:00 AM AST to January 20, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Northeast forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, North Central

When: January 19, 12:00 AM AST to January 20, 12:00 PM AST
Where: North Central forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, Central Interior

When: January 19, 12:00 AM AST to January 20, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Central Interior forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Puerto Rico, 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5436069, 5436070, 5436071.