Flash Flood, Honolulu
- When
- March 22, 1:45 AM HST to 4:25 AM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, Nanakuli
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 21.383, -158.133
Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 22, 2006
Heavy rain, showers, and isolated thunderstorms impacted the southern parts of Oahu. In Makiki, the Maunalaha Stream overflowed its banks and forced one family to evacuate their residence along Maunalaha Road.
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.
Heavy rain, showers, and isolated thunderstorms impacted the southern parts of Oahu. In Makiki, the Maunalaha Stream overflowed its banks and forced one family to evacuate their residence along Maunalaha Road. 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 21, 8:50 PM HST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 8:50 PM HST, 4 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 850 PM HST TUE MAR 21 2006 .SYNOPSIS... A KONA LOW WILL REMAIN NORTHWEST OF KAUAI THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE LOW WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE UNSTABLE AND DRAW TROPICAL MOISTURE UP FROM THE SOUTH. THE THREAT OF HEAVY SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY MORNING AND PROBABLY LONGER. && .DISCUSSION... THUS FAR...SATELLITE AND RADAR ARE SHOWING MOST OF THE DEEP CONVECTION AIMED RIGHT AT THE ISLAND THAT NEEDS IT THE LEAST... KAUAI. SHOWERS AND STORMS HAVE BEEN SHYING AWAY FROM OAHU THUS FAR...AND ACTIVITY TAPERS OFF RATHER QUICKLY FARTHER TO THE EAST. HAVE UPDATED THE GRIDS TO PUT IN A TIGHTER POP GRADIENT FROM WEST TO EAST...I.E. LOWER POPS QUITE A BIT FOR MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND...AND TO RAISE POPS FOR THE GARDEN ISLE AND NIIHAU. STILL LOOKS LIKE PLENTY OF FACTORS COMING TOGETHER FOR A HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS...WITH DEEP LAYER MOISTURE ADVECTION...AND INITIALLY VERY WEAK STEERING FLOW. THIS MORE EASILY ALLOWS CONVECTION TO ANCHOR ON TERRAIN OR MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES. ONE VERY MINOR LIMITING FACTOR...AFTER LOOKING AT EARLIER VISIBLE IMAGERY...SEEMS TO BE THE LACK OF ANY SORT OF ORGANIZED SYNOPTIC SCALE CONVERGENCE IN THE LOW LEVELS TONIGHT...BUT THE MODELS SUGGEST THAT LOW LEVEL CONVERGNCE WILL IMPROVE WITH TIME. DEEP LAYERED MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM ACROSS THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THROUGH THURSDAY ON A SOUTHERLY CONVEYOR BELT. A NUMBER OF MID LEVEL SHORTWAVES WILL EJECT OUT OF THE MEAN TROUGH WHICH CONTINUES TO BE PARKED WEST OF THE ISLANDS BETWEEN 160W AND 170W. THE GFS AND NAM APPEAR TO BE IN BETTER AGREEMENT THAT BASED ON 850-700 MB OMEGA...THE SYNOPTIC-SCALE FOCUS OUGHT TO BE OVER THE WESTERN ISLANDS THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MAINLY OAHU WEDNESDAY NIGHT... AND FROM OAHU TO THE BIG ISLAND THROUGH THURSDAY. THE MODELS DO NOT NECESSARILY DO VERY WELL WITH CONVECTION AT THIS SCALE...SO WHILE THIS IS A LITTLE BETTER THAN A GUESS...ITS HARDLY A CERTAINTY. STAY TUNED. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL ISLANDS THROUGH LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. && R BALLARD
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
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: 5495604.