Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 16, 2006

Name: Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 16, 2006
Start: 2006-03-16T08:15
End: 2006-03-16T20:40
Location: Hawaii

March 16, 2006 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rain, showers and isolated thunderstorms affected the eastern two thirds of Kauai. Flash flooding in Kekaha closed the Wahiawa Bridge and Lower Waha Road for much of the day on the 16th.

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 affected the eastern two thirds of Kauai. Flash flooding in Kekaha closed the Wahiawa Bridge and Lower Waha Road for much of the day on the 16th. There were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.

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 Mar 16, 4:00 AM HST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 4:00 AM HST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
400 AM HST THU MAR 16 2006

.SYNOPSIS...THE BASIC WET PATTERN AND FLOOD THREAT REMAIN FOR THE
 ENTIRE STATE.

&&

.DISCUSSION...ALTHO OVERNIGHT RAINFALL HAS NOT BEEN PARTICULARLY
 HEAVY OR FREQUENT THE AIR MASS OVER THE STATE REMAINS UNSTABLE AND
 MOIST DUE TO THE NEARBY LOW PRESSURE TO OUR WEST. KAUAI AND THE
 SOUTHEAST AND WINDWARD SIDES OF THE BIG ISLAND HAD THE MOST
 NOTABLE AFTER DARK RAINFALL AMOUNTS BUT EVEN THOSE WERE LESS THAN
 AN INCH...MOST OF OAHU AND MAUI COUNTY HAVE BEEN VIRTUALLY DRY.
 FOR THE SHORT TERM KAUAI AND THE BIG ISLAND SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE
 THE FOCUS OF THE HEAVY SHOWERS. DESPITE THE LIGHTER RAIN WE
 CONTINUE TO BE RETICENT TO DIMINISH THE STATEWIDE FLOOD THREAT DUE
 TO THE PERSISTENT LOW PRESSURE. MODELS DO KEEP THIS BASIC
 TROUGHING THEME UNCHANGED THRU NEXT WEEK BUT WITH PERIODS OF
 TEMPORARY EASING...THE GFS MODEL WHICH HAD PREVIOUSLY SIGNALED
 SOME HOPE OF CLEARING HAS AGAIN RETURNED TO A WETTER PATTERN.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 FLASH FLOOD WATCH...ALL ISLANDS THRU FRIDAY.
 WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THRU FRIDAY.

&&

MATSUDA

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: March 16, 8:15 AM HST to 8:40 PM HST
Where: Kauai County, 3 mi W of Hanalei
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 22.200, -159.533

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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, March 2006

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: 5495541.