Flash Flood, Maui
- When
- March 23, 11:30 PM HST to March 24, 3:03 AM HST
- Where
- Maui County, Lahaina
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 20.883, -156.683
Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 23 to 24, 2006
Honoapiilani Highway in Lahaina, near Kekaa Drive, was closed for a time by flood waters from heavy showers that were moving through West Maui. The rain affected communities from Lahaina across the West Maui Mountains to Wailuku.
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.
Honoapiilani Highway in Lahaina, near Kekaa Drive, was closed for a time by flood waters from heavy showers that were moving through West Maui. The rain affected communities from Lahaina across the West Maui Mountains to Wailuku. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.
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, 8:30 PM HST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 8:30 PM HST, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 830 PM HST THU MAR 23 2006 .SYNOPSIS... A DEEP TROUGH WEST OF KAUAI WILL MAINTAIN KONA WEATHER OVER THE ISLANDS THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE TROUGH WILL KEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE STREAMING OVER THE ISLANDS. IMPULSES MOVING OVER THE ISLANDS FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE UNSTABLE ENOUGH FOR HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE. && .DISCUSSION... SATELLITE IMAGERY AND UPPER AIR ANALYSES SHOW A DEEP NORTH NORTHEAST TO SOUTH SOUTHWEST TROUGH NEARLY STATIONARY WEST OF KAUAI. A SERIES OF IMPULSES KEEP DROPPING INTO THE TROUGH FROM THE NORTHWEST... SWINGING AROUND THE TROUGH AXIS AND MOVING NORTHEASTWARD JUST WEST OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS AN AREA OF LAYERED CLOUDS WITH EMBEDDED HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE ISLANDS FROM OAHU TO MAUI. OVER THE PAST 6 HOUR...THIS AREA HAS BEEN MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH AND INTENSIFIED. THIS INTENSIFICATION IS PROBABLY DUE TO A STRONG IMPULSE MOVING BY ABOUT 250 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. WEATHER OVER THE ISLANDS WILL REMAIN RATHER ACTIVE OVERNIGHT BUT MAY QUIET DOWN A BIT EARLY FRIDAY MORNING AS THE IMPULSE MOVES OFF TO THE NORTHEAST. WEATHER OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WILL REMAIN UNSETTLED AS LONG AS THE TROUGH REMAINS NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. THE COMPUTER MODELS ARE CONSISTENT IN IN KEEPING THE TROUGH THERE THROUGH NEXT MONDAY. AFTER THAT...THE MODELS DIVERGE SIGNIFICANTLY. UNTIL THE MODELS BECOME MORE CONSISTENT WE WILL LOOK FOR THE TROUGH TO REMAIN IN PLACE FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT FOR NIIHAU KAUAI OAHU MOLOKAI LANAI MAUI AND KAHOOLAWE. WIND ADVISORY BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. && DONALDSON
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
- Flash Flood in Hawaii, 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
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: 5495607.