Flash Flood, Hawaii
- When
- March 19, 6:55 AM HST to 12:45 PM HST
- Where
- Hawaii County, Pepeekeo
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 19.833, -155.117
Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 19, 2006
Highway 11, the Hawaii Belt Road, was again flooded near Kawa Flats in the Kau District on the Big Island of Hawaii. Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms had inundated eastern and southeastern parts of the isle.
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.
Highway 11, the Hawaii Belt Road, was again flooded near Kawa Flats in the Kau District on the Big Island of Hawaii. Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms had inundated eastern and southeastern parts of the isle. However, no serious injuries or property damage were reported.
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 19, 4:00 AM HST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 4:00 AM HST, 2 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 AM HST SUN MAR 19 2006 .SYNOPSIS... UNSTABLE SHOWERY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD...THANKS TO PERSISTENT LOW PRESSURE TO OUR WEST. WINDS WILL REMAIN RATHER LIGHT...CAUSING RAINFALL TO INCREASE FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH EVENING EACH DAY THEN DECREASE AT NIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH TODAY. && .DISCUSSION... MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS PERSIST ACROSS SOUTHEAST PORTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND...BUT UNTIL RECENTLY SHOWERS HAVE DIMINISHED ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE REMAINING ISLANDS OVERNIGHT. WE ARE SEEING A RESURGENCE IN SHOWER DEVELOPMENT OVER WATER NEAR KAUAI WITHIN THE PAST FEW HOURS. OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS SHOWED THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS WET AND UNSTABLE WITH K INDICES OF 30 OR GREATER AND PRECIPITABLE WATER BETWEEN 1.55 AND 1.8 INCHES. THE ATMOSPHERE IS RIPE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. ALL THAT IS NEEDED IS A CONVECTIVE TRIGGER LIKE DAYTIME HEATING OR AN INTERACTION OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. THE CURRENT UNSTABLE AND WET WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. AN UPPER TROUGH 300 TO 500 MILES WEST OF THE MAIN ISLANDS IS CONSOLIDATING INTO AN UPPER LOW...A FEATURE THAT THE STORM TRACK WESTERLIES WILL HAVE GREAT DIFFICULTY DIGGING OUT FOR THE NEXT WEEK. GFS75 SHOWS THIS UPPER LOW WILL OPEN UP INTO A TROUGH AGAIN LATE FRIDAY...BUT WILL REMAIN ANCHORED WEST OF THE ISLANDS INTO NEXT WEEKEND. THIS PERSISTENT TROUGHING ALOFT WILL INDUCE A SURFACE TROUGH WEST OF THE ISLANDS AS WELL THROUGH THE NEXT WEEK...A FEATURE WHICH WILL KEEP OUR WINDS LIGHT AND THE ISLANDS SUBJECT TO INCREASED DAYTIME RAINFALL DUE TO HEATING. LATEST GFS75 BRINGS PULSES OF HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE ISLANDS OVER THE COMING WEEK. TODAY...WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY ARE THE DAYS THESE PULSES ARRIVE...COINCIDING WITH THE FORECAST FORMATION AND PASSAGE OF SHORT WAVES ALOFT. THE FORECAST CALLS FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TODAY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING TO ACCOUNT FOR JUST MODERATE RAINFALL POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING FLOODING ACROSS SOAKED AND SATURATED GROUND. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH...ALL ISLANDS THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. && POWELL
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
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, March 19 to 20, 2006
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, March 19, 2006
- Avalanche in Washington, March 19, 2006
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 19 to 21, 2006
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 19 to 21, 2006
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 19 to 20, 2006
- Hail in Texas, March 19, 2006
- Blizzard in Kansas, March 19 to 21, 2006
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 19, 2006
- Flash Flood and Hail in New Mexico, March 19, 2006
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 19 to 21, 2006
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 19 to 20, 2006
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5495601.