Heavy Rain, Maui
- When
- January 18, 1:56 PM HST to 4:29 PM HST
- Where
- Maui County, 0.49 mi SSE of Keanae to 0.32 mi WSW of Kipahulu
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 20.863, -156.147
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, January 18, 2008
Heavy showers and thunderstorms caused ponding on roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding in windward coastal and windward upslope sections of East Maui. An upper trough near the islands helped enhance trade showers.
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 thunderstorms caused ponding on roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding in windward coastal and windward upslope sections of East Maui. An upper trough near the islands helped enhance trade showers. No significant 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 Jan 18, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 56 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST FRI JAN 18 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A TROUGH ALOFT WILL MAKE THE ATMOSPHERE UNSTABLE AND BRING THE POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME MORE STABLE LATER TONIGHT AND TRADE WINDS WILL BUILD BACK OVER THE ISLANDS. TRADE-WIND WEATHER...WITH SHOWERS CONCENTRATED OVER WINDWARD AREAS...WILL PERSIST THROUGH MOST OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A NORTH-SOUTH TROUGH ALOFT OVER THE ISLANDS. THIS FEATURE IS MAKING THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND THE ISLANDS RATHER UNSTABLE. SATELLITE AND RADAR IMAGERY HAVE BEEN SHOWING LAYERED CLOUDS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER WATER NORTHEAST THROUGH EAST THROUGH SOUTHEAST OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. AS THE ISLANDS HEAT UP TODAY THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FORMING OVER THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI. THESE STORMS ARE LIKELY TO DISSIPATE THIS EVENING BUT THUNDERSTORMS MAY PERSIST OVER WATER AROUND THE ISLANDS OVERNIGHT. THE COMPUTER MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT SHOWING THE TROUGH ALOFT SHIFTING EAST OF THE ISLANDS TONIGHT. AS THE TROUGH MOVES EAST THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME MORE STABLE AND THE THREAT OF THUNDER WILL END. WIND AROUND THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HAVE WEAKENED DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF TWO WEATHER SYSTEMS. A FRONT FAR NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS HAS HELPED ERODE THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. ALSO...THE TROUGH ALOFT OVER THE ISLANDS HAS INDUCED A SURFACE TROUGH OVER THE ISLANDS. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS HIGH PRESSURE WILL RE-BUILD NORTH OF THE ISLANDS AND THE TRADE WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN. TRADE-WIND WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MOST OF NEXT WEEK AND THE TRADES WILL BE LOCALLY BREEZY AT TIMES. && .MARINE...THE CURRENT NORTHWEST SWELL REQUIRES A HIGH SURF ADVISORY AND SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY. THE SWELL WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE OVERNIGHT. SURF WILL LIKELY DROP BELOW THE ADVISORY THRESHOLD SATURDAY MORNING AND WAVE HEIGHTS MAY ALSO DIMINISH ENOUGH TO DROP THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS LIKELY AGAIN SATURDAY NIGHT AS WINDS STRENGTHEN OVER THE COASTAL WATERS. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR NORTH-FACING SHORES OF ALL ISLANDS AND WEST-FACING SHORES OF KAUAI AND OAHU AT LEAST INTO SATURDAY. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY MORNING FOR WATERS AROUND KAUAI...OAHU WINDWARD WATERS...AND KAIWI CHANNEL && DONALDSON
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Alaska, January 18 to 21, 2008
- Frost and Freeze in California, January 18, 2008
- Dense Fog in California, January 18 to 19, 2008
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, January 18 to 20, 2008
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, January 18, 2008
- Frost and Freeze in Oregon, January 18, 2008
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 18 to 21, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Maine, January 18, 2008
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 2008
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 71323.