Flash Flood, Honolulu
- When
- March 3, 4:15 AM HST to 12:30 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, Punaluu
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 21.600, -157.900
Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 3, 2006
Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms in windward sections of Oahu caused a rockslide on the Kailua-bound lanes of the Pali Highway. The roadway was closed for several hours as highway workers cleared the debris.
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 in windward sections of Oahu caused a rockslide on the Kailua-bound lanes of the Pali Highway. The roadway was closed for several hours as highway workers cleared the debris. 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 3, 4:00 AM HST, 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 4:00 AM HST, 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 AM HST FRI MAR 3 2006 .SYNOPSIS... WET CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TODAY ACROSS OAHU...AND MAY SPREAD TO OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE. TRADE-WIND WEATHER WILL RETURN OVER THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... MOIST SOUTHEAST FLOW...TOGETHER WITH DIFFLUENCE ALOFT AND A SURFACE TROUGH TO THE WEST OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS ALL COMBINED TO PRODUCE CONTINUED MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS...MOSTLY OVER OAHU AND THE BIG ISLAND. ALSO...AN ELONGATED AREA OF STEADY RAIN SPREADING FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST TOWARD OAHU INCLUDED SHOWERS...THAT AT LEAST IN RADAR DATA...SHOWED RAIN RATES APPROACHING 4 INCHES AN HOUR. ALTHOUGH MOST MODELS ROUGHLY APPROXIMATED THE PRESENT SITUATION...THEIR LIMITED ABILITY TO RESOLVE MESOSCALE PHENOMENA SHOWED ITSELF IN DISPLACED AND FLATTENED RAIN MAXIMA. ON THE WHOLE...THE GFS SEEMED TO HAVE THE BEST REPRESENTATION. IN ANY CASE...THE MODELS AGREE THAT GRADUAL RIDGING ALOFT WILL WORK ITS WAY DOWN TO THE SURFACE OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS...REBUILDING THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE...PUSHING THE SURFACE TROUGH OFF TO THE WEST...AND TAPPING INTO A DRIER AIRMASS UPWIND. ALMOST ANY CHANGE IN THE OVERALL WEATHER REGIME IS CERTAIN TO ALLEVIATE THE FLOODING...SINCE BY DEFINITION THE ANOMALOUSLY HEAVY RAINFALL DEPENDS ON A RARE COMBINATION OF FACTORS. HOWEVER...CONTINUED HEAVY RAINFALL PROBABLY DEPENDS THE MOST ON WIND DIRECTION FOR THREE MAIN REASONS. FIRST... SOUTHEAST WIND TAPS INTO MOISTER AIR FROM THE DEEP TROPICS. SECOND...SOUTHEAST WIND BLOWING ALONG MOUNTAIN RANGES ORIENTED FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST...LIKE THE KOOLAUS...PRODUCES VORTICITY AND HENCE LIFT ALONG THEIR NORTHEAST SLOPES. FINALLY...SOUTHEAST WIND TENDS TO SHIFT THE LEE PLUME FROM ONE HAWAIIAN ISLAND ONTO THE NEXT ISLAND... FURTHER ENHANCING RAINFALL THERE. NONE OF THE MODELS TURN WIND DIRECTION SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE NORTHEAST BEFORE SATURDAY MORNING. THUS...THOUGH UPPER-LEVEL SUPPORT FOR THE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH THIS MORNING...RAINFALL WILL TAPER OFF SLOWLY THROUGH TODAY. CONSIDERING THE SATURATED STATE OF THE SOIL IN SOME PLACES... THE RISK OF LOCAL FLOODING MAY LINGER INTO EARLY SATURDAY. HOWEVER...ONCE THE WIND DOES SHIFT...CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO TRADE-WIND CLIMATOLOGY FAIRLY QUICKLY. && .MARINE... MOKAPU BUOY INDICATES THAT SWELL FROM THE NORTH-NORTHEAST WILL PUSH SURF UP TO NEAR THE ADVISORY LEVEL AGAIN TODAY...SO THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS CONTINUED UNTIL EARLY SATURDAY. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH...KAUAI OAHU TIL 4 PM FRIDAY HIGH SURF ADVISORY...MOST EAST SHORES TIL 4 AM HST SATURDAY && RYSHKO
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: 5495532.