Flash Flood, Maui
- When
- March 23, 7:46 AM HST to 10:19 AM HST
- Where
- Maui County, Maunaloa
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 21.133, -157.217
Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 23, 2006
Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms moved through the western half of Molokai. Ponding on roadways was commonplace, as was drainage ditch and small stream flooding.
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 showers and isolated thunderstorms moved through the western half of Molokai. Ponding on roadways was commonplace, as was drainage ditch and small stream flooding. Flooding in Kaunakakai caused damage to a bakery. There were no reports of serious injuries. 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 Mar 23, 5:05 AM HST, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 5:05 AM HST, 2 hours 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 505 AM HST THU MAR 23 2006 .SYNOPSIS... A KONA LOW WILL PERSIST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI THROUGH THIS WEEK. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE ISLANDS REMAINS UNSTABLE AS THE LOW DRAWS TROPICAL MOISTURE UP FROM THE SOUTH. THE THREAT OF HEAVY SHOWERS CONTINUES THROUGH LATE TONIGHT. THIS LOW WILL WEAKEN AND MOVE WEST OVER THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... THE LINE OF HEAVY RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS THAT AFFECTED KAUAI AND OAHU EARLIER IS MOVING TO MOLOKAI THIS MORNING. THERE WERE SOME FLOODING REPORTED ON OAHU LATE LAST NIGHT BUT LUCKILY THE PRECIPITATION HAS PRETTY MUCH LESSENED OVER THE TWO WESTERN ISLANDS AT THIS MORNING. SHALL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION FOR MAUI COUNTY SINCE THIS BAND WILL BE AFFECTING THEM IN THE COMING HOURS. HAVE SEEN SOME CLEARING BEHIND THIS RAIN BAND OVER KAUAI AND OAHU. FORECAST CHARTS DO NOT APPEAR TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION. BUT THEN FORECAST CHARTS INSIST ANOTHER ROUND OF UNSETTLED WEATHER OVER THE WESTERN ISLANDS LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT AS ANOTHER WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE FORECAST TO MOVE OVER THE ISLANDS. NOT TOO SURE IF THIS SCENARIO WILL WORK OUT...THOUGH THE AIR MASS OVER OUR AREA REMAINS MOIST AND PRETTY UNSTABLE. THUS SHALL GIVE THE WESTERN ISLANDS LESS CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION THIS MORNING THEN REINTRODUCED THE UNSETTLED WEATHER LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. FORECAST CHARTS ARE AT LEAST CONSISTENT IN HAVING THIS KONA LOW SLOWLY MOVING WEST THEN WEAKENING OVER THE WEEKEND. DO LOOK FOR IMPROVING WEATHER BY FRIDAY AND OVER THE WEEKEND AT THIS POINT. WINDS ON THE SUMMITS OF THE BIG ISLAND HAVE INCREASED TO 30 MPH AND ABOVE AT TIMES. HAVE ISSUED AN WIND ADVISORY FOR THAT AREA VALID UNTIL EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. EXTENDED PERIOD OVER EARLY NEXT WEEK IS ALSO A TAD UNCERTAIN AT THIS POINT...AS FORECAST CHARTS KEEP SOME TROUGHING OVER OUR AREA. FORECAST CHARTS HINT LOW DEVELOPING VICINITY BIG ISLAND THEN MOVES NORTHEAST. NOT TOO SURE IF I CAN BELIEVE IN THIS SOLUTION. LOOKS LIKE HIGH PRESSURE WILL TRY TO REBUILD TO THE NORTH. DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH TROUGHING REMAINS OVER THE ISLANDS...WE MAY ACTUALLY SEE SOME LIGHT TRADE WINDS. HAVE CHOSEN TO BE A TAD MORE OPTIMISTIC AT THIS POINT...BY KEEPING HEAVY PRECIPITATION OUT AND PUT SOME LIGHT TRADES BACK FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD AT TIME. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE THURSDAY NIGHT FOR ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. WIND ADVISORY BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. && HUI
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
- Strong Wind in Washington, March 23, 2006
- Winter Weather in Texas, March 23, 2006
- High Wind in Oregon, March 23, 2006
- Tornado in Florida, March 23, 2006
- High Wind in California, March 23, 2006
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, March 23, 2006
- Flood in Florida, March 23, 2006
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 23, 2006
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 23, 2006
- Avalanche in Colorado, March 23, 2006
- Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, March 23, 2006
- Waterspout in Gulf of Mexico, March 23, 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: 5495605.